IBM Highlights Critical Security Vulnerabilities with New Tool

August 13, 2013 Alex Woodie

IBM last month announced QRadar Vulnerability Manager (QVM), a new tool designed to give time-crunched administrators a simple and easy way to identify the most dangerous security vulnerabilities that exist in their IT systems.

QVM is like a security triage system for overworked administrators. The software automatically collects data from multiple network, endpoint, database, and application scanners; correlates it with actual use information from the QRadar SIEM (security information and event management); identifies the vulnerabilities that pose the highest threat of actually being exploited; and presents all this information in an easy-to-read dashboard interface.

Speed is the big advantage of this approach, because identifying which vulnerabilities pose the greatest threat can be a difficult and time-consuming task. According to IBM’s X-Force security consulting and research arm, there are more than 70,000 vulnerabilities in existence today, with more than a dozen new ones discovered every day.

IBM says an organization may have tens of thousands of vulnerabilities hidden in its IT systems and networks. But not all vulnerabilities are equal. In fact, the same security vulnerability may pose a higher level of risk to one organization than it does to another.

“Security Intelligence is about putting all the available data into context, and making it useful for each client’s unique security needs,” said Brendan Hannigan, general manager of IBM’s Security Systems Division. “We have relentlessly expanded QRadar’s capabilities, and tight integration of vulnerability management is the next natural extension.”

QVM is fully integrated into the QRadar product family, which IBM obtained with its acquisition of Q1 Labs in 2011. IBM doesn’t say in its marketing materials whether QVM supports IBM i or not. But considering that Q1 Labs added support for IBM i in 2010, it’s likely that the connection is there.