23 March 2010, 16:52

Centralised software updates

Secunia Logo Version 4.0 of Secunia Corporate Software Inspector (CSI) allows network administrators to install security updates for Windows software right across the network. CSI makes use of Microsoft's Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). According to the vendor, this allows well over 1,000 applications, including Adobe Reader, Flash, Java, Firefox and Skype, to be administered.

CSI uses the same technology as the company's free Personal Software Inspector to determine which versions of what software are installed on a system and whether newer versions which fix security vulnerabilities are available. The H Update Check also uses Secunia's database.

But while PSI and Update Check leave installation of the updates to the user, CSI aims to automate this process as far as possible. It downloads latest versions from vendors' websites and repackages them so they can be distributed over the network using WSUS. Due to limitations of WSUS, non-Microsoft updates still have to be managed via CSI. CSI is priced according to the number of hosts to be administered, and starts from around £5,000 per year for up to 200 systems.

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