The essential guide to protecting your virtualized systems

Securing virtual environments is not the same as securing physical environments--the stakes are higher and the process is more complicated. With different architectural models, new attack vectors, and new security controls to implement and tune, virtualization dramatically changes the security playing field.

Discover the best practices for securing your virtualized systems with this detailed guide. Author Dave Shackleford is a well-known security expert who brings you up to speed on the technologies and strategies you should know and shows you how to properly secure virtual environments.

This essential guide includes:

• A thorough overview of virtualization security--actual and theoretical threats
• Step-by-step processes for securing the three leading hypervisors--VMware vSphere^(TM) and ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V^(R), and Citrix XenServer^(R)
• Smart ways to design virtual networks to be more secure from the outset
• Effective strategies for integrating new virtual network layers into existing physical infrastructures
• Securing virtual machines (VMs), especially against VM-focused attacks
• Proper logging and auditing management for virtual environments
• Managing change and configuration with new policies and processes that take into consideration virtualization security
• Tips and tricks for improving disaster recovery and business continuity
• Leveraging Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) for security, as well as considerations for securing Storage Virtualization and Application Virtualization

Virtualization changes the playing field when it comes to security. There are new attack vectors, new operational patterns and complexity, and changes in IT architecture and deployment life cycles. What's more, the technologies, best practices, and strategies used for securing physical environments do not provide sufficient protection for virtual environments. This book includes step-by-step configurations for the security controls that come with the three leading hypervisor--VMware vSphere and ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008, and Citrix XenServer.

• Includes strategy for securely implementing network policies and integrating virtual networks into the existing physical infrastructure
• Discusses vSphere and Hyper-V native virtual switches as well as the Cisco Nexus 1000v and Open vSwitch switches
• Offers effective practices for securing virtual machines without creating additional operational overhead for administrators
• Contains methods for integrating virtualization into existing workflows and creating new policies and processes for change and configuration management so that virtualization can help make these critical operations processes more effective

This must-have resource offers tips and tricks for improving disaster recovery and business continuity, security-specific scripts, and examples of how Virtual Desktop Infrastructure benefits security.