As reported last July when the consumer version of BrowserCheck was launched, the service interactively scans web browsers looking for security flaws within the browser and its plug-ins.
Wolfgang Kandek, Qualys' chief technology officer, told Infosecurity that, as with the consumer version, Business BrowserCheck is free of charge to all firms, and will add to the company's cloud intelligence pool on potential malware threats to internet users.
The business version of BrowserCheck, he says, gives ITsec admins the ability to generate a URL that they can distribute to their company users and, when this is run, gives them an insight into any security problems that their users' browsers have.
The service, he explained, allows organisations to quickly and efficiently identify – and fix – any browser security issues.
According to Kandek, security flaws in web browsers and their plug-ins are often the preferred target of malware attacks – especially as people increasingly use their browsers for activities including using web applications, conducting business transactions, using social media and web surfing.
Inside companies, says Qualys, network and desktop administrators responsible for information security of an organisation do not have visibility into the state of browser and browser plug-in information within their environments.
Commenting on the new service, Avivah Litan, a vice president and analyst with Gartner, said that secure web browsing is a growing concern for IT security.
"As employees increasingly access important information and use applications through their web browsers, malicious users are targeting their attacks on security vulnerabilities in out-of-date browsers and their plug-ins", she said.
"Providing a way for IT administrators to assess browser security across an organisation, and tools for users to keep their browsers and browser plug-ins up-to-date can help protect company data from malicious activity", Litan added.