Independent Analyst Firm: Qualys Recognized as a Leader in Attack Surface Management
As the modern attack surface continues to grow in complexity, the need for simplified asset discovery and risk assessment has never been more acute. In 2021, Qualys introduced CyberSecurity Asset Management (CSAM), a visionary ASM offering designed to bolster the customer’s coverage of the attack surface within a risk-based vulnerability management program. As ASM use cases have evolved to include threats to internet-facing assets, multi-cloud, and OT/IoT assets, CSAM has continued to innovate at the pace of customer challenges. That commitment to scaling the solution was highlighted by GigaOm, who named Qualys a leader among 27 other vendors in Attack Surface Management Radar Report.
In the report, analyst Chris Ray provides an overview of the market, emphasizing “the convergence of internal and external attack surface monitoring, the integration of threat intelligence for enhanced risk prioritization, and growing emphasis on discovery and validation.”
Qualys has emphasized flexible, use-case centric, discovery and comprehensive risk assessment as requirements to scale at the speed of the threat landscape. GigaOm recognized this vision, describing Qualys as excelling in “organizations requiring sophisticated risk scoring and comprehensive asset correlation capabilities.”
Placement in the GigaOm Radar Report for ASM
Qualys earned its place as a Leader and Fast Mover in the Maturity/Platform Play quadrant of the ASM Radar report.
This recognition reflects its ongoing efforts to incorporate CSAM into an end-to-end security program, while consistently innovating for new use cases. GigaOm highlights a unified approach to vulnerability management, asset discovery, and external attack surface management, describing Qualys as “a strong market fit for organizations seeking comprehensive asset visibility with flexible deployment options.” The report specifically cites Qualys as a perfect fit for “enterprises requiring detailed asset classification and customizable discovery frequencies.”
Evaluation Criteria: Attack Surface Management Vendors
The analyst firm’s evaluation criteria reflect the same values that Qualys has consistently championed. The evaluation highlighted the company’s strengths in several key areas, including CSAM’s core differentiators—comprehensive asset discovery and risk scoring.
More specifically, GigaOm studied key features across all vendors such as attack path analysis, vulnerability assessment, risk scoring beyond vulnerabilities, categorization and reporting, and coverage of internal, external, and third-party risks.
GigaOm also considered several emerging capabilities for which Qualys set the standard, including threat intelligence feeds, attribution of external assets, flexibility of discovery, and scalability.
Where Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management Stands Out
GigaOm declared Qualys the leader for discovery and risk assessment of critical infrastructure across complex hybrid environments. The report specifically highlights a few primary use cases where CSAM outperforms the competition:
Complete Discovery / Inventory
The platform offers robust coverage across the attack surface, with flexible discovery methods designed for individual use cases. GigaOm highlighted “comprehensive correlation of assets using customizable identification rules, automated agent/scanner merging, passive sensor discovery, and IP matching across internal and external sources.”
This level of visibility helps organizations identify vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
Risk Assessment
At the heart of the Qualys solution is its TruRisk™ prioritization engine, which provides organizations with asset-level risk scoring. The report calls specific attention to the TruRisk™ formula as a platform differentiator with “100,000+ vulnerability signatures, 25+ threat intelligence sources, asset criticality, exposure metrics, misconfigurations, and end-of-life status” all accounted for within an asset’s TruRisk Score.
The result is a precision view of the most critical risk, and defined remediation paths to secure the business.
Enterprise-Ready
Qualys has designed its platform with large-scale enterprise environments in mind. The solution supports complex hybrid IT infrastructures, offering both internal and external monitoring with customizable scanning intervals. Its distributed platform architecture ensures that organizations can rely on consistent performance at scale, while its dedicated SRE teams guarantee stability and reliability.
As GigaOm points out, Qualys leads the pack in simplifying complex environments. For Purchase Considerations, the report says Qualys “particularly suits enterprises requiring detailed asset classification and customizable discovery frequencies.”
“The solution reflects Qualys’ mature approach through its emphasis on stability and consistent performance in enterprise environments. Its development prioritizes incremental improvements to existing capabilities, particularly in areas of scanning accuracy, compliance reporting, and integration capabilities. The company demonstrates methodical advancement of core features while maintaining reliability.”
– Chris Ray, GigaOm Analyst
Qualys Vision: ASM as a Foundation for the Risk Operations Center (ROC)
The GigaOm Radar Report for ASM also provides readers with a forward-facing view of the market. It emphasizes deeper integration with cloud security posture management and digital supply chain risks, which Qualys already includes in the Enterprise TruRisk™ Platform. More importantly, the report sets the stage for ASM as a foundation for overall organizational risk analysis and correlation.
The analyst firm’s view aligns closely with Qualys’ vision for the Risk Operations Center—the cross-functional business hub for unified risk management and coordinated response. With the complexity of today’s threat landscape, businesses must consolidate risk signals from across the environment to measure risk in terms of financial impact and probability of an attack. At the foundation of that vision is complete coverage of the attack surface, which Qualys—with the leading ASM solution on the market—is uniquely positioned to provide for customers.
Upgrade to the Industry Leader for Unified Attack Surface Management
Your entire cybersecurity program is dependent on the coverage and risk assessment provided by your Attack Surface Management solution. In a competitive field of 27 other vendors, Qualys CyberSecurity Asset Management (CSAM) stands out.
Get your copy of the 2025 GigaOm Radar Report for Attack Surface Management (ASM)
Already a VMDR customer? Add CSAM to turbocharge your risk-based vulnerability management with:
- Unified coverage of the internal and external attack surface
- Comprehensive attribution with confidence score for all internet-facing assets
- Multiplying risk factor identification for precise TruRisk™ Scoring
- Proactive EoL/EoS tech debt management up to 12 months in advance
New to Qualys? Get started with the bedrock of every cybersecurity program: industry-leading coverage of your attack surface. Try CyberSecurity Asset Management today.
For a tailored report on your risk to internet-facing assets, request your EASM Risk Report.
Contributors
- Chris McManus, Senior Manager, Product Marketing, Qualys
