Security in the vrtual environment: myths and reality

Kaspersky Lab announces the launch of a special online project devoted to debunking notions and shattering myths about the security of virtual environments. The resource http://me.kaspersky.com/en/beready? provides access to exclusive up-to-the-minute information about what really threatens your virtual environment – and how to ensure it stays secure.

Virtualization has become a worldwide trend. According to a survey by Forrester Research, Inc., 85% of companies in Europe and North America have already implemented or are about to implement server virtualization. Research from Gartner also confirms virtualization technologies are spreading fast: by the end of 2012 about 50% of the load on x86 servers will be virtualized.

This is hardly surprising, as businesses gain many advantages from virtualization, including reduced capital expenditures, ease of maintenance, and growth of net efficiency and stability. But if the advantages are clear, the risks are less well known:  virtual machines are still thought to be safer than physical ones. In reality, almost the opposite applies with practically all known cyberthreats existing in virtual environments. According to Gartner, this complacency could mean that in 2012 60% of virtual servers will be less well protected than their physical predecessors.

At the same time the amount of malware keeps growing at a startling speed: Kaspersky Lab detects up to 70,000 new threats every day and every 14^th file downloaded from the Internet turns out to be infected.