Hosted security applications provider Qualys and RedSeal Systems announced a new product integration pact Oct. 10 through which they will offer RedSeal's risk management analysis capabilities on top of Qualys' vulnerability protection and policy compliance tools.

According to company executives, enterprises are seeking new methods for determining what security tasks they must address next, as new crops of serious software vulnerabilities and malware attacks arrive on a regular basis.

For those companies already using the SAAS (software as a service) tools offered by Qualys, adding the ability to prioritize security projects and apply software patches more effectively should provide significant benefits, said Philippe Courtot, chief executive of Qualys, based in Redwood Shores, Calif.

"Companies adopting the software as a service security model are already doing so to help lower overhead and make it easier for their IT staffers to focus on the most important security projects they need to address," said Courtot. "So by giving them even greater ability to prioritize how to go about their work, those goals will be met even more efficiently."

Officials with the two companies said that the integrated services should specifically allow enterprises to get a better understanding of their "network topology," allowing them to more effectively determine what types of vulnerabilities may already be on their systems.

Doing so will also help companies understand which of their systems can be accessed for security updates, based upon their existing network traffic filtering policies.

To lure companies into trying out the integrated products, RedSeal, based in San Mateo, Calif., is offering its Security Risk Manager 3000 appliance at a promotional price of $5,000, that includes a complimentary 90 day subscription to the QualysGuard Enterprise service, which also runs through a security appliance located in customers' operations.

According to RedSeal, the SRM 3000 provides a real-time visualization of network risk and threat propagation by analyzing firewall and router configuration data when stacked alongside QualysGuard.

The system creates a graphical display of network assets and other systems that may be at risk from threats, allowing customers to better plan their maintenance work, the company said.

Security vendors reject Microsoft's call for innovation. Click here to read more.

The appliance and service is also designed to track remediation of any security issues it reports.

In addition, RedSeal followed in the footsteps of Qualys and other hosted applications providers including Salesforce.com by announcing a new monthly subscription pricing package for customers using the SRM 3000 appliance.

Through the program, the company is offering support on the appliance for up to 50 firewalls and routers for $5,000 for the first 90 days and $2,500 per month thereafter.

To buy the device, companies must pay $25,000 plus annual maintenance fees.

Check out eWEEK.com's for the latest security news, reviews and analysis. And for insights on security coverage around the Web, take a look at eWEEK.com Security Center Editor Larry Seltzer's Weblog.