Virtualization has become all the rage for companies interested in optimizing their servers and storage systems. This shift in data center architecture allows IT organizations to reduce operational costs and increase flexibility and responsiveness to changing business demands. But in this rush to virtualize, security can fall by the wayside.
CMP
Virtualization Security
Playbook
IntroductionStrategies for Delivering Securing Your VirtualizedDynamic Security for Data CenterFritz NelsonVirtual Data Centers 2 CMP Technology
FAe aCtoumrep Aerntidclieusm of Recent Articles by CMP Editors
Network Computing InformationWeekGartner: Virtualization Can Virtualization's NextWeaken Security Frontier: SecurityKelly Jackson Higgins . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Larry Greenemeier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Look at Blue Lane Fighting Security Ghosts inVirtualShield the Virtual MachineAvi Baumstein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Larry Greenemeier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Dark Reading
VMs Create Potential RisksKelly Jackson Higgins . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4New Tool: Virtual Tip ofthe IcebergKelly Jackson Higgins . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
From the editors of:
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Securing Your Virtualized Data Center
Virtualization has become all the rage for companies interested in optimizing theirservers and storage systems. This shift in data center architecture allows IT organiza-tions to reduce operational costs and increase flexibility and responsiveness to chang-ing business demands.
But in this rush to virtualize, security can fall by the wayside. And this lack of security islikely preventing many enterprises from experiencing the full benefits of this major net-work transformation.
Organizations must be mindful that virtual servers require different security measures.Traditional, static security measures such as firewalls, VLANs and other specialized secu-rity appliances simply don't make the grade in this new world of virtualization, soenterprises have to seek out alternatives if they want to create the next generation datacenter.
Instead of rigid security walls, virtualized server environments need flexible virtualshields. Shields are dynamic. Shields can move with the servers they protect, so theycan be brought quickly to the point of attack. And shields can be orchestrated on-demand by a management system.
To get a third-party perspective on the topic, Network Computing provides "Gartner:From the Virtualization Can Weaken Security," which presents research that suggest that virtualeditors of: servers will be less secure than physical servers through 2009.
According to the Dark Reading article "VMs Create Potential Risks," there's no guaran-tee that your security policies from physical servers will carry over to your virtual ones.The article looks closely at several of the biggest security risks and how to mitigate thethreats to your systems. InformationWeek's article "Virtualization's Next Frontier:Security" elaborates on the pros and cons of virtualization security and some of thesolutions currently on the market.
All of this may sound grim for enterprise IT departments, but there is a bright side. Anumber of vendors are addressing exactly this issue of security for virtual resources. Aswe see in Network Computing's in-depth review, "A Look at Blue Lane VirtualShield,"there are products on the market that will eliminate malicious content from networktraffic before it hits your virtual servers.
As you transition to a virtualized environment, turn to the Virtualization SecurityPlaybook, brought to you by CMP Technology, AMD and Blue Lane, as your go-toresource for all the latest information about securing your most valuable IT assetsagainst increasingly aggressive attacks.
Fritz NelsonSenior Vice PresidentCMP Integrated Marketing Solutions
2 SECURE VIRTUALIZATION PLAYBOOKBACK TO HOME networkcomputing.com, April 5, 2007
Gartner: Virtualization Can
Weaken Security
Research firms says companies that adopt virtualization without having best prac-tices in place run the risk of jeopardizing enterprise security
April 5, 2007By Amy Larsen DeCarlo
Gartner will present research later this month that caution as they deploy VMs. The research firm suggests that companies that hurry to implement suggested that too many businesses try to take thevirtualization technology without first implementing same approach to securing their virtual servers thatbest practices for security may be in for trouble. they use to protect physical servers. This leavesVMs exposed to threats.The analyst firm said the combination of immaturesecurity tools for virtualized environments and t... [download for more]
