The new VMware VMsafe Technology Allows the Virtual Datacenter to Be More Secure Than Physical Environments. Twenty Industry-Leading Security Vendors, Including CheckPoint, McAfee and Symantec, Endorse VMsafe Technology and Announce Plans to Build Interoperable Security Solutions. The global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today announced new security technology called VMware VMsafe(tm) that protects applications running in virtual machines in ways previously not possible in physical environments. The VMsafe APIs allow vendors to develop advanced security products that combat the latest generation of malware. VMsafe technology integrates into the VMware hypervisor and provides the transparency to prevent threats and attacks such as viruses, trojans and keyloggers from ever reaching a virtual machine. Twenty security vendors have embraced VMsafe technology and are building products that will further enhance the security of virtual machines, making the virtual environment unmatched in the level of security and protection it provides compared to physical systems.
Wednesday, February 27. 2008
VMware VMsafe more secure than physical environments
"VMware already has the most trusted virtualization platform for running
applications, and we are now raising the bar on security in ways that
physical systems simply cannot match," said Raghu Raghuram, vice president of
datacenter products and solutions. "The industry has come out in full force
to support VMware VMsafe technology with plans for a whole new class of
security products that offer customers new advantages to running applications
in virtual machines."
Partners Embrace VMware VMsafe Technology
VMsafe technology integrates at the hypervisor layer of virtualization to
provide a completely new way to detect and eliminate the latest generation of
malware. The VMware hypervisor is an ultra-thin layer of software that runs
directly on server hardware independently of the operating system, enabling
users to create virtual machines on the server in which to run applications.
VMsafe technology provides transparency into the memory, CPU, disk and I/O
systems of the virtual machine, and monitors every aspect of the execution of
the system. Security products built on VMsafe technology are able to stop
malware before it harms a machine or steals data, including the latest
generation of rootkits, trojans and viruses, which are undetectable on
physical machines.
Today, 20 security vendors have announced plans to use VMsafe APIs to build a
new class of open, interoperable and cross-platform innovations for virtual
machines. Partner quotes are below.
About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the global leader in virtualization solutions from the
desktop to the datacenter. More than 100,000 customers rely on VMware to
reduce capital and operating expenses, ensure business continuity, strengthen
security and go green. With 2007 revenues of $1.3 billion and more than
10,000 partners, VMware is one of the fastest growing software companies.
VMware is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and on the web at
www.VMware.com <http://www.vmware.com/> .
# # #
VMware and VMsafe are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of VMware, Inc.
in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names
mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
Supporting Partner Quotes
Altor Networks
"At Altor Networks, our mission is to make the virtual network in the
datacenter more secure than its physical counterpart", said Amir Ben-Efraim,
founder and chief executive officer for Altor Networks. "VMsafe technology
facilitates comprehensive integration with VMware's hypervisor, enabling our
patent-pending Virtual Network Firewall(tm), custom-built for the virtual
environment, to enforce security policies per-VM - uninterrupted through
VMware VMotion, transience, and across diverse guest OSes."
Apani
"Apani offers a software alternative that eliminates the inflexibility and
complexity of using hardware-based solutions to secure severs, endpoints and
business-critical data within the corporate network," said Ryan Malone, vice
president of marketing for Apani. "We're pleased to be an early member of
VMsafe and welcome the opportunity to work with VMware to create unique
virtual security solutions that solve real business challenges for our
customers."
Blue Lane
"VMsafe unleashes the power of Blue Lane's VirtualShield product, giving
enterprises the opportunity to protect virtual infrastructure from highly
sophisticated attacks designed to evade traditional defenses," said Allwyn
Sequeira, senior vice president of product operations for Blue Lane.
"Enterprises can now unleash the power of virtualization across the
datacenter while taking a proactive security posture."
Catbird
"As a pioneer in securing virtual infrastructures, Catbird is thrilled to be
partnering on this important technology initiative from VMware. Today,
Catbird's V-Security already utilizes VMware Infrastructure APIs and
virtualized network technology to deliver comprehensive protection for the
virtual datacenter," said Edmundo Costa, chief executive officer for Catbird
Inc. "VMware will enable Catbird to extend our reach to an even deeper level
of security and policy enforcement to help protect virtual environments from
mismanagement and attack."
Cenzic
"Integration of our application security solution Cenzic Hailstorm ARC with
VMware Lab Manager and VMware VirtualCenter solutions have helped us
dramatically change the rules of the game, " said Mandeep Khera, vice
president of marketing at Cenzic, Inc. "Now, customers are able to use this
joint solution to test their Web applications that are in production and also
on a continuous basis to protect against new vulnerabilities that are
averaging 400 a month. Before this integration, this level of risk management
wasn't feasible in the physical world, mainly due to cost, convenience, and
time factors. With VMsafe, customers can achieve with virtualization, what
was virtually impossible before in the physical world."
Checkpoint
"We are excited to be a VMware partner and to leverage the API's made
available via VMsafe technology," said Bob Egner, vice president of product
management at Check Point. "Our security solutions are deployed on some of
the largest and most sensitive networks in the world and the security teams
running these networks need to continue operating at the highest levels of
security as they move to a virtualized infrastructure. We believe a strong
partnership with VMware and tightly integrated products benefit our customers
with increased security and manageability."
F5
"VMsafe provides significant visibility and capabilities that were previously
unavailable to virtual machines, and go well beyond the capabilities of
physical servers," said Erik Giesa, vice president of product management at
F5. "As a vendor who specializes in applying application-level intelligence
and optimally managing traffic to virtual embedded applications, this new
visibility further enables F5 and its customers to leverage VMware's
technology in implementing fast, available and secure application delivery
solutions."
Fortinet
"Fortinet is very pleased to be a part of VMware VMsafe," said Michael
Rivers, vice president corporate development for Fortinet Inc. "Fortinet has
been invested in security virtualization solutions for large enterprise and
service provider customers for some time and we are very complementary to
VMware's various server offerings. All virtualized servers need multiple
layers of security protection that can be either network based, host based or
both, which is what Fortinet recommends. Fortinet strongly believes in the
technical and economic benefits of virtualization, which VMware has broadly
made possible for our mutual customers."
IBM
"As threats to the virtual machine landscape continue to evolve, IBM will
leverage the VMsafe technology to provide holistic system and data protection
solutions for the virtual environment," said Scott Johnson, business line
manager, host solutions for IBM Internet Security Systems. "IBM is
dedicated to extending superior 'ahead of the threat' multi-layered
protection to the virtual landscape, and to working with VMware to develop
new and innovative ways to protect the VMware infrastructure."
Imperva
"Application data security and compliance is a key area of concern for
Imperva customers," said Rohit Gupta, vice president of business development
for Imperva. "Partnering with VMware will allow Imperva to continue to
deliver flexible solutions that provide full visibility and granular control
of application and data usage in virtualized environments."
McAfee
"With VMsafe, VMware introduces a new paradigm in the security of
virtualization just like it introduced a new paradigm in computing with its
virtualization technology," said Christopher Bolin, chief technology officer
for McAfee, Inc. "Together we will be able to protect virtual environments in
ways beyond what is available to protect physical environments today."
Reflex
"Reflex Security welcomes VMware's security initiative as we believe this
will enhance and accelerate VMware Infrastructure as a trusted enterprise
computing platform," said Hezi More, chief technology officer for Reflex
Security. "As businesses adapt to the ever changing threat and compliance
landscape, integration of network security with virtual infrastructure allows
organizations to adopt and deploy 'defense in depth' security technology
closest to their critical assets without the traditional high costs and
complexities associated with physical infrastructure."
RSA
"Enterprises are embracing the cost and efficiency gains possible through
virtualization; however, these organizations are hampered today by numerous
security threats and compliance risks," said D.J. Long, director, corporate
development for RSA, the security division of EMC. "RSA has been
long-committed to providing interoperable solutions engineered to mitigate
information risk within the extended enterprise, and through our technical
partnership with VMware, we are able to provide joint customers with a more
secure information infrastructure. We will continue to work with VMware to
build information-centric security mechanisms directly into the world's
leading solution for server and client virtualization."
Secure Computing
"Secure Computing supports VMware VMsafe as it promotes better security in
virtualized environments," said Ken Rutsky, vice president of product
marketing for Secure Computing. "Secure Computing's virtualized security
solutions for e-mail, Web and firewall can help organizations make the data
center more efficient by reducing hardware and thereby significantly lowering
energy consumption."
Shavlik
"Shavlik Technologies applauds this innovative approach to virtualization
security," said Chris Schwartzbauer, vice president of worldwide field
operations for Shavlik Technologies. "Shavlik Technologies is firmly
committed to extending security into the virtual space. Shavlik and VMware
customers are already benefiting from our recently announced integration with
VMware Update Manager. As an early VMware security partner, we intend to
continue our support and provide even more advanced virtual security through
the new VMsafe program."
Sophos
"Sophos supports VMware's latest security initiative as it promotes tighter
security and control for organizations with virtualized environments," said
Michael Rogers, vice president, North America alliances, channels and OEM
for Sophos. "As businesses continue to broaden the way in which they use
their network, having the most efficient security while maintaining
visibility and control has become not an option but a necessity."
Symantec
"Symantec is exploring opportunities with VMware to deliver security
solutions to customers using VMware environments," said Bruce McCorkendale,
distinguished engineer for Symantec. "We expect the VMsafe technology to be a
key enabler in our ongoing efforts."
Trend Micro
"Virtualization is changing the way organizations build their computing
infrastructure. In the past few years, virtualized deployments have really
proven their ROI and gained momentum in both large and small enterprises,"
said Punit Minocha, vice president of business development and incubation for
Trend Micro. "Trend Micro is pleased to affirm its commitment to providing
leading-edge content security solutions to customers via participation in
VMware VMsafe."
Tripwire
"We are excited to be part of this industry-leading initiative to bring a
never-seen-before view of security to IT," said Dwayne Melancon, vice
president of business and corporate development for Tripwire, a leader in
configuration audit and control solutions. "VMware provides us with
visibility to help enterprises better manage the risks associated with
misconfigured infrastructure that can lead to security or compliance issues.
By leveraging VMsafe to create accountability to configuration standards,
Tripwire will strengthen its policy-based management of virtual environments
to increase the security posture of the enterprise."
Webroot
"From Spy Sweeper to our most recent move into security
software-as-a-service, Webroot has a rich history of innovation and providing
the best security in an unsecured world. Given the need to stop the growing
crush of malware and spam before it can reach corporate networks, we applaud
VMware's innovative efforts with VMsafe. We look forward working with VMware
on delivering the next generation security technology for the virtualized
world." said Gerhard Eschelbeck, chief technology officer for Webroot.