What's the right security for a virtualized environments? Not all IT security experts know the right answer, according to a new report released this week by Kaspersky Lab.

Dan Kobialka, Contributing writer

July 28, 2014

2 Min Read
Kaspersky Lab today released its quotGlobal IT Security Risks Survey 2014  Virtualizationquot
Kaspersky Lab today released its "Global IT Security Risks Survey 2014 -- Virtualization."

What’s the right security for a virtualized environments? Not all IT security experts know the right answer, according to a new report released this week by Kaspersky Lab.

Endpoint protection solutions provider Kaspersky Lab found the majority of IT professionals understand virtualization security.

Kaspersky’s new “Global IT Security Risks Survey 2014 — Virtualization” revealed three out of every four IT security experts know what virtualization security options are available.

The survey also showed 46 percent of respondents said they believe virtual environments can be adequately protected by conventional security solutions, and 36 percent believe security concerns in virtual infrastructures are significantly lower than in physical environments.

Other survey results included:

  • 64 percent of survey respondents agreed that security should be one of the first considerations when rolling out virtual infrastructure.

  • 52 percent said they believe virtual environments are increasingly becoming a core part of their business’ IT infrastructure.

  • Nearly one out of every four enterprises said securing virtualization infrastructure is one of their most important security priorities for the next 12 months.

“Businesses today face an ever-evolving threat landscape, and cybercriminals are increasingly looking at virtual environments as the next frontier of sophisticated attacks,” Mark Bermingham, Kaspersky Lab North America virtualization evangelist, said in a prepared statement. “With many businesses turning their attention to securing virtual environments, it is critical that they execute these initiatives and understand their options for securing these business-critical environments.”

What do the survey results mean?

Bermingham said the survey results “highlight a clear disconnect between what organizations believe is optimal security for a virtual environment when contrasted with the robust capabilities delivered via agentless and light agent solutions.”

Virtualization is a key contributor to the cloud market’s growth and is likely to continue to drive this market’s expansion as well.

“We believe that IT specialists recognize the threat and are motivated to react appropriately,” Andrey Pozhogin, Kaspersky’s senior product marketing manager, told MSPmentor. “Proper choice of a security solution will enable them to demonstrate more benefits from virtualization projects, thus lowering costs and risks, improving productivity and increasing efficiency, which in its turn will increase virtualization adoption even further.”

451 Research‘s Sept. 2013 report, “Market Monitor Cloud-Enabling Technologies,” showed virtualization accounted for 66 percent of the total market share of cloud-enabling technologies.

Victoria Simons, a research analyst at 451 Research, noted the demand for flexible cloud technologies could lead many large enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to invest in virtualization.

“We see the cloud-enabling technologies market growing strongly as large enterprises and SMBs continue along the path of flexible computing,” she said in a prepared statement.

Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at [email protected].

About the Author(s)

Dan Kobialka

Contributing writer, Penton Technology

Dan Kobialka is a contributing writer for MSPmentor and Talkin' Cloud. In the past, he has produced content for numerous print and online publications, including the Boston Business Journal, Boston Herald and Patch.com. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State College (now Bridgewater State University). In his free time, Kobialka enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football (Go Patriots!).  

Free Newsletters for the Channel
Register for Your Free Newsletter Now

You May Also Like