Virtual Machine Security -- from Shavlik Technologies

One major threat to the network, often ignored by or simply not on the radar of many IT organizations: offline virtual systems. Shavlik Netchk Protect is the industry’s first and only solution to integrate virtualization security for both online and offline virtual machines. See what top analysts from Gartner and Forrester are saying about the importance of securing offline virtual systems: Gartner Report: Security Considerations and Best Practices for Securing Virtual Machines “Patch offline images - Don’t overlook the patching of VMs and VM appliances stored offline. In most cases today, these must be brought online on a live machine to be patched before being written off to storage again. Standardized virtual hard drive formats have made offline patching possible; wherever possible, require vendors to support offline patching or provide a specific road map when such a capability will be provided.” Neil MacDonald Gartner Forrester Report: Server Virtualization Security: 90% Process,10% Technology “Patching of offline systems and preflight checks for production VMs - Most patching, antivirus, and vulnerability management tools are agent-based and require the target machine to be up and running to be properly maintained. As a result, offline virtual machines may lag behind on security updates unless you’ve deployed updated tools that specifically address offline VMs. If you’re not updating offline machines, you should deploy tools to scan VMs when they boot to prevent old vulnerabilities from getting resurrected in your production environment.” Galen Schreck Forrester

Virtual Machine Security becomes even more important every day.

As the world of virtualization moves forward, organizations are faced with compelling reasons to virtualize: factors like server consolidation, high energy bills, faster hardware, and ease of use make the virtual computing realm very attractive. But these benefits quickly erode if virtual machines are not properly secured.

In some organizations virtualization has already become a large part of the infrastructure. Once again technology has outrun security best practices. As many companies hasten the virtualization process - virtual machine security needs to become as important as physical machine security.

Shavlik Technologies Helps You Tighten Your Virtual Machine Security

Shavlik has added industry-leading capabilities to its suite of security solutions targeted at securing virtual machines. Shavlik delivers the industry’s first solution that provides organizations with the ability to assess and remediate patch levels of their physical servers, online virtual machines and offline virtual machines in VMware virtual environments. The key is Shavlik’s agentless technology that does not require an agent to be running on the virtual image.

Shavlik NetChk Protect is a robust patch management solution, providing extensive coverage for Microsoft operating systems, Microsoft programs, and 3rd party programs - even in virtual environments. While there are a number of “free” patch management tools available, they are limited to patching Windows operating systems and programs. They do not address 3rd party programs, which leaves gaping virtual machine security holes that hackers can easily find and attack. Don’t let “good enough” be the standard for securing your business assets. Free security tools may actually increase your risk and in the end will require more IT resources that will eat your IT budget. You need solutions that reduce your costs while improving your security status. Shavlik NetChk Protect is your complete virtual machine security solution.

Learn more about our virtual machine security.