Best way to Report on OS and Security Update Status?

Question

Now that our OS X roll-out is nearly complete, we need to be able to get reports on all client mMacs , their OS versions and, more specifically, their security update status.
The "Software Difference" report seems to be falling short on showing the information we're looking for. And the "System Overview" report seems only to show straight OS and point-release level, not security update info.
Can someone recommend a better way to get this information?

Answer 1

I haven't come across a command that can show what updates have been installed, but to see a list of updates that a computer needs, try sending
softwareupdate -l
(that's the lower-case letter L as in "list") through the Send Unix Command (send as root). Here's the full details of the command:
usage: softwareupdate <mode> [<args> ...]
     -l | --list          List all appropriate updates
     -d | --download          Download Only
     -i | --install          Install
          <label> ...     specific updates
          -a | --all          all appropriate updates
          -r | --recommended     only recommended updates
          -u | --url <url> ...     from signed package URLs
     Per-user preferences:
     --ignore <label> ...     Ignore specific updates
     --reset-ignored          Clear all ignored updates
     --schedule (on | off)     Set automatic checking
     -h | --help     Print this help