Virtualization in enterprises has been a growing trend for years, offering attractive opportunities for scaling, efficiency, and flexibility. According to Forrester Research1, over 70 percent of organizations are planning to use server virtualization by the end of 2015. Often, companies delay implementing virtualization due to security concerns or adopt virtualization before deploying advanced security measures. However, virtual machines and their hosting servers are not immune to attack. Introducing virtualization technology to a business creates new attack vectors that need to be addressed, such as monitoring the virtual networks between virtual machines. We have seen malware specifically designed to compromise virtual machines and have observed attackers directly targeting hosting servers. Around 18 percent of malware detects virtual machines and stops executing if it arrives on one. Virtual systems are increasingly being used to automatically analyze and detect malware. Symantec has noticed that attackers are creating new methods to avoid this analysis. For example, some Trojans will wait for multiple left mouse clicks to occur before they decrypt themselves and start their payload. This can make it difficult or impossible for an automated system to come to an accurate conclusion about the malware in a short timeframe. Attackers are clearly not ignoring virtual environments in their plans, so these systems need to be protected as well.
