Qualys expands mROC alliance to strengthen cyber risk visibility across enterprises

Qualys has expanded its cybersecurity alliance with five technology partners to improve visibility into mobile, industrial and identity risks, alongside new partner certification programs.

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Cybersecurity is becoming more complex as businesses rely on a wider range of connected devices and digital systems. Managing risks across these environments requires greater visibility and faster ways to identify and address security weaknesses.

Qualys announced an expansion of its global Managed Risk Operations Center (mROC) Alliance, adding technology partnerships with Claroty, Lookout, NowSecure, Nozomi Networks and Okta.

The expansion brings additional security data into Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management (ETM), allowing organizations to assess vulnerabilities and exposures across different parts of their infrastructure. Qualys also introduced two partner certification tracks to support the deployment and operation of risk management services.

Expanding security visibility beyond traditional IT

The new partnerships cover three areas: mobile security, operational technology and connected devices, and identity management.

Through Lookout and NowSecure, Qualys can incorporate security information about mobile operating systems, device configurations and application vulnerabilities. This includes risks associated with third-party software development kits embedded in mobile applications, which may not be identified through conventional endpoint monitoring.

Claroty and Nozomi Networks extend coverage to operational technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) environments, including industrial control systems, medical equipment and building management infrastructure.

These environments present particular security challenges because some devices cannot support conventional monitoring agents or tolerate frequent active scanning. Applying software updates can also require operational downtime or specialized procedures.

The challenge is reflected in the US National Institute of Standards and Technology's September 2026 draft guidance on OT security, which emphasizes the need to protect industrial systems while maintaining their reliability, performance and safety.

By incorporating passive asset discovery and vulnerability information from its partners, Qualys aims to help security teams identify exposures and prioritize mitigation measures, even when affected devices cannot be immediately patched.

Meanwhile, the integration with Okta focuses on identity-related threats, including misconfigured accounts, excessive access permissions and exposed credentials.

These findings can be assessed alongside the systems an account can access, helping organizations identify weaknesses that could allow attackers to move between connected environments.

Bringing security findings into one risk assessment

The partner integrations feed security information into Qualys ETM, where the company's proprietary TruRisk engine evaluates exposures alongside existing enterprise security data.

Instead of treating every vulnerability as an isolated issue, the system is designed to help organizations compare threats and determine which require immediate attention. Qualys says this approach provides security leaders with a consolidated risk score, prioritized remediation workflows and reporting capabilities for management teams.

However, a unified risk score does not automatically eliminate vulnerabilities. Its effectiveness depends on the quality of the information supplied by connected systems and the organization's ability to act on identified risks.

The announcement builds on Qualys' mROC Partner Alliance, introduced in February 2025, which allows service providers to deliver cyber risk management through the company's platform.

New certification tracks support risk operations

Alongside the technology partnerships, Qualys introduced two authorization tracks for organizations supporting the adoption of Risk Operations Centers. The Authorized mROC Advisor certification covers evaluating an organization's existing risk management program, identifying priorities and developing an implementation roadmap.

The Authorized mROC Delivery & Implementation Partner certification focuses on deploying Qualys ETM, connecting third-party security tools and establishing operational workflows.

These join the existing mROC Partner category, which covers managed risk operations, including vulnerability prioritization, remediation coordination and reporting.

Together, the three tracks are intended to support organizations from initial assessment through implementation and ongoing management.

The expansion also comes amid concerns that advances in AI could accelerate vulnerability discovery and exploitation.

"PHP2Shell was a wake-up call for the industry," said Cade Stephens, Vice President of Global Channels and Strategic Alliances at Qualys.

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore reported active exploitation of PHP2Shell vulnerabilities in November, highlighting the urgency of identifying and addressing critical exposures. However, confirmed exploitation does not itself establish that AI was used in the attacks.

Qualys has not disclosed adoption figures, implementation timelines for individual partner integrations or independently measured improvements in risk reduction.

The expanded alliance reflects a growing emphasis on connecting security data across different technologies rather than managing each environment separately. For enterprises, the challenge remains turning that broader visibility into faster, more effective remediation.