Altiris Takes Wraps Off Security Suite

Unveiled Thursday, the Altiris Security Suite combines Altiris' patch management, application metering and Windows operating-system management capabilities with Pedestal's AuditExpress technology, which performs a security audit and assessment amd then delivers reporting based on a predefined catalog of about 700 known vulnerabilities, ranging from weak password settings to unauthorized devices that may be connected to the network.

The new solution can help VARs deliver their customers a platform for creating security policies and practices, said Howie Hecht, senior product manager for AuditExpress, a primary component of the suite. "It's a starting point to developing a security policy," said Hecht, a former Pedestal employee now with Lindon, Utah-based Altiris following the March acquisition.

The suite doesn't perform a scan of the entire network; users assign the software to audit particular groups of systems, according to Hecht. "It doesn't just set out to audit everything because you may have different security policies in different departments," he said.

Hecht added that the Altiris Security Suite can be up and running in minutes, and one customer reported that it took just one night to perform an audit of a department running about 80,000 nodes. Pricing for suite starts at $59 per node, and volume discounts are available.

Once security policies and practices are established using the suite, customers typically will be ready to graduate to Altiris' more sophisticated Security Expressions platform. Altiris obtained the agentless security policy management system in the Pedestal acquisition and is still integrating the technology, Hecht said, adding that most customers should outgrow the new security suite in about two years.

Robert Hearn, president of The Blue Willow Group, an Altiris partner based in Houston, said his company likely will perform its own custom integration of Security Expressions so it can move some of its customers to the platform earlier. "I think we will step up customers to Security Expressions sooner than two years," said Hearn.