SMASHING THE TOP 7 VIRTUALIZATION SECURITY MYTHS

VIRTUALIZATION HAS MANY BUSINESS BENEFITS, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:

• Cost containment: Virtualization reduces the overall hardware footprint, hardware costs,

power consumption and management requirements.

• Agility: Virtualization delivers new capacity on demand to make the whole business

more responsive and competitive.

• Stability: Simpler, standardized systems mean greater resiliency and better system

availability, which in turn enables greater productivity.

• Centralized management: Virtual systems can be created instantly, and managed and

configured centrally, reducing administrative and support costs.

WHILE SOME SECURITY RISKS ARE REAL, THERE ARE SOME UNFOUNDED MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS DATA AND INFRASTRUCTURE IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT. THIS EBOOK IS DESIGNED TO ADDRESS (AND THEN SMASH) SOME OF THE COMMON MYTHS ASSOCIATED WITH VIRTUALIZATION SECURITY.

WHY VIRTUALIZATION?

Not true. Virtual endpoints look the same as physical systems to the outside world.

Virtualization doesn’t change the threat landscape or the impact of infiltration.

VM THREATS ARE MOUNTING AND INCLUDE:

• Malware outbreaks.

• Data ex-filtration (intentional, unintentional).

• Insider threats.

• Targeted attacks (advanced persistent threats).

• Hacktivists.

Non-persistent virtual desktops are somewhat more secure because they are wiped clean after

each use. They still use roaming profiles and mapped network drives that can also be used to

propagate malware, so they need to be protected, too.

MYTH #1: Virtual systems aren’t as vulnerable as physical systems.

Virtualized

Cloud

V-Motion

Not if you have the right security solution! If you choose software that includes a single

central management console, you can ensure that your physical, virtual and mobile endpoints

are all protected and seamlessly managed through similar looking and functioning policies.

MYTH #2: You have to manage virtualized and non-virtualized infrastructures separately, creating extra work for overburdened IT staff.

With the right security software, you can download an appliance, switch it on

and immediately be protected, so you can reap the benefits of virtualization

while maintaining your security perimeter. Kaspersky Security for Virtualization

(KSV) is a virtual appliance that utilizes VMware® vShield technology to talk to

virtual machines and automatically carry on security tasks. Once it’s installed,

KSV will immediately take over all the necessary security tasks through vShield.

Most IT staff time will be spent creating virtual machine policies, freeing you up

for other responsibilities.

MYTH #3: Deploying a virtualization security solution is a long and painful process that uses up precious IT resources.

When asked about server uptime, most IT professionals brag about 99.99% success.

Even five minutes of downtime per year is too much. With the right security solution,

you can secure your virtual infrastructure without a single reboot. Kaspersky’s Security

for Virtualization keeps your server up and running 100 percent of the time.

MYTH #4: Reboots are a necessary hassle with virtualization security, lowering your server’s uptime.

It’s true that with traditional antivirus software, the more virtualized machines you spin up,

the more resources you use. To reduce risk in a virtual environment without slowing down

your system or wasting precious host resources, select a security solution that eliminates

the redundancy of going through already-scanned files, searching for infections and

invariably missing some, putting your entire system at risk. With shared cache technology,

most files are checked once, an immediate verdict is delivered, and the files don’t have to be

checked again.

MYTH #5: In a virtualized system, growth increases your risk—your security burden grows with you.

IT administrators have to provide reports on their activities. Historically, security has not

been part of those reports. Select a virtualization security solution that generates reports with

IT security included. If everything is visible, VM administrators can see it all, track changes

and growth, and keep everything protected.

MYTH #6: Reporting is too hard with virtualization Protected VMs

Description

Protected VMs VM Last Backup StateSummary Information

Report Parameters

This report lists all protected and unprotected VMs including their last backup state.

VMs Overview

Total VMs: 47

Protected VMs: 1

Backed Up VMs: 1

Replicated VMs: 0

Restore Points: 2

Unprotected VMs: 46

Scope: Virtual InfrastructureRPO period: Part 1 week(s)Exclusion mask:Job type: Backup and replication jobs

Unprotected VM

Protected VM

Successful

46 1 1

Physical

Virtual

Mobile

Console

Console

Console

IT

How much complexity do you have?

When you can’t see it, you can’t manage it. It’s important to select a virtualization

security solution that has a single-pane view of all protected machines, both physical

and virtual. Visibility also reduces complexity and gives you the agility and flexibility

you need to respond faster to malware.

MYTH #7: Cybersecurity is too complex in a virtual environment.

To keep your data and your IT infrastructure safe, it’s important to have an agentless security

solution that fully protects your virtualized infrastructure and all the data it processes.

Kaspersky had this in mind when it developed Kaspersky Security for Virtualization, a

security platform built for the unique requirements of virtualized IT environments.

KSV works via VMware’s vShield Endpoint; anti-malware functions are offloaded to a virtual

appliance; and security is applied instantly and automatically with up-to-date antivirus

databases when a new VM is provisioned or powered on

A PRACTICAL DEFENSE

APP APP APP

APP

OS OS OS

APP APP KSV

VirtualAppliance

Agentless Security Deployment

VMware vShield

VMware ESX and ESXi

Physical Host

Kaspersky Security for Virtualization

Kaspersky Lab is one of the world’s fastest-growing cybersecurity companies and the

largest that is privately-owned. The company is ranked among the world’s top four

vendors of security solutions for endpoint users (IDC, 2014). Since 1997 Kaspersky Lab has

been an innovator in cybersecurity and provides effective digital security solutions and

threat intelligence for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab is an

international company, operating in almost 200 countries and territories across the

globe, providing protection for over 400 million users worldwide.

To learn more about Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, call Kaspersky Lab today at 866-563-3099 or email us at corporatesales@kaspersky.com.

www.kaspersky.com/business

ABOUT KASPERSKY LAB

Veeam® recognizes the new challenges companies across the globe face in enabling

the Always-On Business™, a business that must operate 24/7/365. To address this,

Veeam has pioneered a new market of Availability for the Modern Data Center™ by

helping organizations meet recovery time and point objectives (RTPO™) of less than

15 minutes for all applications and data, through a fundamentally new kind of solution

that delivers high-speed recovery, data loss avoidance, verified protection, leveraged data

and complete visibility. Veeam Availability Suite™, which includes Veeam Backup &

Replication™, leverages virtualization, storage, and cloud technologies that enable the

modern data center to help organizations save time, mitigate risks, and dramatically

reduce capital and operational costs.

Founded in 2006, Veeam currently has 29,000 ProPartners and more than 140,000

customers worldwide. Veeam’s global headquarters are located in Baar, Switzerland,

and the company has offices throughout the world. To learn more, visit veeam.com.

Call 678-353-2140 or visit www.veeam.com

ABOUT VEEAM SOFTWARE

© 2015 AO Kaspersky Lab. All rights reserved. Registered trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.