Virtualization
While virtualization's greatest security benefit is how it enables resource isolation (i.e. putting each egg in its own basket), virtualization's greatest security risk is how it enables resource consolidation (i.e. putting too many eggs in one basket). And while virtualization saves money on hardware and operational costs, a virtual environment could cost more to secure. How do you decide on whether or not virtualization is right for your organization?
The two-day Virtualization Summit 'track' at SX will provide in-depth answers to questions such as:
- What are the true costs of running and securing a virtual environment?
- How do the vulnerabilities within and possible exploits of virtualization technology stack up against the benefits?
- Can virtualization be used as a security tool?
- What are the risks of using virtualization in a cloud environment?
- How do you determine if virtualization is right for your organization?
We'll also discuss virtualization's use in cloud computing—how cloud providers can assume some of the management challenges of a virtualized environment, and how the cloud makes some virtualization security risks even more threatening.
Session Descriptions
Sunday, May 17
1:30 pm–2:30 pm
Standard security logic dictates "Simplicity is safer than complexity," and "Hardware is safer than software." Virtualization both adds a layer of complexity to a computing environment, and swaps out hardware for software. So it should be no surprise that virtualization introduces new vulnerabilities. The virtualization summit begins with a run-down of the technological security risks of a virtualized environment, including: vulnerabilities within the virtualization software itself; virtualization-based malware, and; exploits of legitimate, but poorly secured, virtualization features, like live virtual machine migration. The speakers will then discuss how realistic these threats are today.
Sunday, May 17
2:45–3:45 pm
Yet, the challenges of managing a virtualized environment may pose a greater threat than the technological risks. The ease with which virtual machines can be copied and moved may cause "virtual machine sprawl," which ups the difficulty of keeping an accurate inventory, proving compliance and managing patching. The summit speakers will delve into these and other virtualization management challenges.
Sunday, May 17
4:00 pm–5:00 pm
Virtualization technology is what makes cloud computing possible. Yet when you store data in the cloud, you have no access to the underlying infrastructure--you must rely on cloud service providers to do that. During this part of the summit, speakers will discuss cloud service providers' security agendas, and what cloud users can do to secure their virtual machines stored in the cloud.
Monday, May 18
1:30–2:30 pm
Though security managers cannot sink their hands into the guts of a cloud provider's virtualization infrastructure, they can within their own networks. Monday, the summit begins by discussing solutions to securely roll out and configure the underlying virtualization infrastructure, and how to further lock it down using security appliances and trusted computing methods.
Monday, May 18
2:45–3:45 pm
Soft underbelly aside, a virtualized environment has additional processes in need of securing, for example, the interactions between different virtual machines residing on the same hardware. The summit speakers discuss why security tools optimized for a virtualized environment are necessary, and provide updates on how security vendors have applied the VMsafe APIs released by VMware.
Monday, May 18
4:00–5:00 pm
But virtualization's not all bad. The speakers end the day with an education in how virtualization itself can be used as a security tool, by harnessing its superior powers of resource isolation and other capabilities. The summit closes as speakers and attendees together add everything up and calculate whether or not your virtualization will benefit your organization more than it will cost.
Other Tracks:
