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Driven by the enhanced cost-effectiveness and increased server utilization, the number of virtual machines has risen tremendously in most organizations. Although many organizations have not accounted that each server needs to be individually configured, patched and secured, there has been an increase in the number of devices connected to the network. Virtual machines have network access and can be hacked, infected and compromised just like a dedicated physical device. When managed properly, they can actually improve security posture, being more dynamic. When organizations not have effective management strategies in place and are unaware of the number of operating virtual machines, they have the same risk at the endpoint like their physical counterparts. With an unmanaged virtual sprawl, management practices can be decentralized. Automating the essential tasks By adopting virtualization solutions, organizations are compelled to change processes and think differently. Without authorization and coordination of the security team, the new servers and applications can appear to be faster and easier. Security and IT administrators need to aggressively and incessantly monitor for new devices, servers and services with the increased number of machines to safeguard. Automating the processes behind vulnerability management will be necessary. Although there are various tools to do this, the result has been semi-automatic with manual intervention required to deploy, verify and report the activity. The volumes of virtual machines that are added to the network entail continuous response that is fully automated and linked at every stage. Virtualization will be more reliable, if new tools and security best practices improve automation to align with the management of virtual machines. Offline Security By addressing Green IT there are many enterprises that have a significant number of virtual machines offline. Bringing these offline machines online and configuring those to be safe against potential threats can be a time-consuming and a difficult operational task. The vulnerability to a particular threat is significantly reduced when a virtual machine is managed and secured in their offline state. When a patch requires a system reboot, security can be boosted by the ability to use virtual machines that have been patched offline for critical system back-up. Waiting for a time when critical systems can be taken down, is the most common strategy that is currently used. An organization’s vulnerabilities are increased when workspace virtualization is implemented without proper security. It is therefore essential to appropriately secure the virtual machines with thorough planning and continuous processes even before they come online. This way the vulnerability windows to the threats are diminished, letting an organization to experience an enhanced level of security with virtualization. Know more about: VDI solutions, virtual desktop
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workspace virtualization, virtualization solutions, VDI solutions, virtual desktop,
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