MBSA Replacement Details

As  you may know we wrote MBSA for Microsoft a number of years ago. Its key component is the HFNetChk Engine which Microsoft has not updated in a few  years. They are also cutting back on its support at the end of this month, only supporting it in SMS and as a result we are going to release an advanced and updated replacement.  Here are the related details for those interested, I decided to just put the marketing version here since all the details are here.  I hope you give it a try, I think  you will find it useful, maybe a bit retro too since its command line and scripted.  Its also 8 times faster than MBSA 1.2.1, yee hah!  Supports many more products also, including agent-less remote Office scans, something MBSA never did.

Update: we decided to go with a beta of our latest engine, beyond what is shipping today, with Microsoft keeping MBSA 1.2.1 around a bit longer, this beta will go out soon. Assuming a solid beta we will release the final product in time for the May patch day. Its available now. Marketing Text:

Shavlik Is Pleased To Introduce Shavlik NetChk Analyzer

From the creators of Microsoft’s MBSA comes the Shavlik NetChk Analyzer, a command line and scripting tool that simplifies network security by enabling administrators to quickly scan their networks and determine the status of missing and installed patches. This is a complete upgrade to the patch management components of MBSA, which is used to secure millions of computers each week.

Shavlik NetChk Analyzer offers support for today's most widely used platforms including Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.  Additionally Shavlik NetChk Analyzer scans popular Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications including Microsoft Office, SQL Server, Exchange Server, Adobe Reader, Firefox, Real Player, WinZip and many others.  The list of supported products goes well beyond what Microsoft provides in any of its solutions.

Features

• Fully featured commandline and scripting application

• Non-invasive / agentless scanning (MBSA 2.0 requires a WSUS 2.0 agent on every scanned computer)

• Support for many non-Microsoft applications

• Flexible reporting output including XML, CSV, and TSV

• Supports environments up to 50,000 devices

• Fast, multi-threaded scan engine – up to 256 scan threads active at one time

• Full MBSA 1.2.1 compatibility, with faster scanning performance that’s (8x) that of MBSA 1.2.1

• Uses significantly less network bandwidth than MBSA 1.2.1

• Gathers asset inventory data for each machine

• Use as a complete MBSA 1.2.1 replacement*

* Important: Microsoft MBSA 1.2.1 will reach end of life on March 31, 2006. After this date, the application will no longer be support ed by Microsoft and the MSSecure.XML file which includes all patch updates will no longer be updated to include new security bulletins. For those customers who have been using MBSA 1.2.1, we’d encourage you to migrate to Shavlik NetChk Analyzer right away to ensure continued support from the company who developed MBSA for Microsoft - Shavlik Technologies.

Supported Products & Operating Systems

For a detailed list of the applications and operating systems covered by Shavlik NetChk Analyzer, please go to: http://forum.shavlik.com/viewtopic.php?t=1009

System Requirements

• Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems

Available: Now, SNA web page