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Citadel Security Software Inc. on Monday will announce the latest version of its vulnerability remediation software, which gives users more flexibility and control over when and how flaws are fixed.
Using a new feature in Hercules 2.0, administrators are able to write custom signatures and fixes for vulnerabilities, enabling them to remediate flaws found in in-house or custom applications. Users can also schedule on-demand remediations if there is a new, emerging vulnerability that needs to be addressed immediately.
The basic operation of Hercules has remained intact. The system scans each designated machine on a pre-set schedule, searching for any of the thousands of known vulnerabilities in its database. Once the scan is complete, the software displays a list of all of the vulnerabilities it discovered, along with which machines are affected and the severity of each flaw.
Hercules also shows the patch for each vulnerability and gives a short explanation of how the problem will be fixed. Once the administrator approves the fixes, the software automatically installs the patches and reports back once the operation is finished.
Given the massive number of vulnerabilities that are found and patches that are released every year, this kind of automation can represent a significant savings in both time and manpower for IT organizations. The main objective for the new release was to give users more options in using the software, Citadel executives said.
“This version is designed to give them as much flexibility as possible,” said Steven Solomon, president and CEO of Citadel, based in Dallas. “Thats why they can write their own vulnerability signatures and override remedies and policies if they need to.”
Hercules can import data from most of the popular vulnerability scanners, including those from Internet Security Systems Inc., Harris Corp., eEye Digital Security Inc. and Qulays Inc. The system now supports Unix and Linux, as well as Windows.
And, to avoid issues with fake patches that can contain viruses or Trojans, Citadel has added support for MD5 checksums to Hercules 2.0. The new version of the software will be available in May.
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