Company Overview
Qualys was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Foster City, California, USA. Co-founded by Philippe Courtot and Giles N. Rubley, Qualys is a pioneer in cloud security and compliance, having launched the industry's first SaaS-based vulnerability management platform.
Qualys went public on NASDAQ in 2012 (ticker: QLYS). It serves over 10,000 customers across 200+ countries and regions. The unified Qualys Cloud Platform integrates vulnerability management, web application security, compliance auditing, endpoint detection and response (EDR), and cloud security posture management (CSPM), empowering enterprises to fully control their digital asset security risks.
Related provider: Qualys Security Services
Core Products
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
| Qualys VMDR | Unified vulnerability management, detection and response platform with automated asset discovery and remediation |
| Qualys WAS | Web application scanner for detecting XSS, SQL injection, and thousands of other web vulnerabilities |
| Qualys PCI | PCI DSS compliance management solution with one-click reporting |
| Qualys FIM | File integrity monitoring for real-time detection of critical file changes |
| Qualys EDR | Endpoint detection and response with automated threat intelligence-driven response |
| Qualys CSAM | Cloud asset management and attack surface management for continuous asset discovery |
| Qualys TotalCloud | Cloud security posture management (CSPM) across multi-cloud environments |
| Qualys Patch Management | Automated patch deployment and remediation tracking |
Key Strengths
- SaaS-Native Architecture: No hardware or agent required, scanning starts within minutes
- Global Scanner Network: Scanners deployed worldwide covering all major cloud regions
- Automated Compliance: Supports PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR, SOC 2 automated compliance reporting
- Unified Platform: VM, compliance, web security, cloud security, and EDR in one integrated solution
Milestones
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1999 | Founded by Philippe Courtot and Giles N. Rubley in Foster City, California |
| 2012 | IPO on NASDAQ (QLYS), becoming the first cloud security SaaS public company |
| 2020 | Launched Qualys VMDR, redefining vulnerability management automation |
| 2026 | Continues expanding cloud security product portfolio, serving 10,000+ enterprise customers globally |
Market Position
Qualys' main competitors in cloud security and vulnerability management include:
- Tenable: Co-leader in vulnerability management with the powerful Nessus scanner ecosystem
- Rapid7: Known for InsightVM and Metasploit, covering penetration testing
- Wiz / Orca Security: Next-gen cloud security (CNAPP) platforms with rapid growth
- CrowdStrike: Strong competitor in endpoint and cloud security
- Palo Alto Networks / Microsoft Defender: Partially overlapping offerings from comprehensive security platforms
