Access member only content, take part in discussions with comments on blogs, news and reviews and receive all the latest security industry news directly to your inbox. Join now for free.
A confirmation email has been sent to your email address - SUPPLIED EMAIL HERE. Please click on the link in the email to verify your email address. You need to verify your email before you can start posting.
If you do not receive your confirmation email within the next few minutes, it may be because the email has been captured by a junk mail filter. Please ensure you add the domain @scmagazine.com.au to your white-listed senders.
By leveraging virtualisation technology, organisations can achieve better control and visibility in the cloud, an information security leader said during Tuesday's opening keynote at the 2011 RSA Conference in San Francisco.
“It may seem counterintuitive to use the technology enabling the cloud, virtualisation, to secure the cloud,” said Art Coviello, executive vice president of EMC and president of the company's security division, RSA.
“But virtualisation is our silver lining in the cloud.”
Organisations are rapidly adopting cloud computing technologies due to business demand, Coviello (pictured) said.
But security practitioners are growing concerned about their ability to safeguard, govern and manage data in the cloud.
It was widely accepted that perimeter defences are no longer adequate and protecting data is critical, Coviello said.
Virtualisation transforms physical perimeters into dynamic, logical boundaries and can improve security by causing it to become an information-centric endeavor. And they allowed security to be built-in and automated, he said.
“Achieving this means building security into virtualized components and, by extension, distributing security throughout the cloud,” Coviello said.
“Automation will be absolutely essential to enabling security and compliance to work at the speed and scale of the cloud.”
Meanwhile, static security approaches can no longer address evolving threats, such as zero-day malware, he said, adding that virtualised environments can aid this problem by making security risk-based and adaptive.
“In the near future, trusted clouds will employ predictive analytics based on their understanding of normal states, user behaviours and transaction patterns to spot high-risk events and allow organisations to proactively adapt defences,” Coviello said.
Vendors have worked to apply security principles to their solutions and enable a secure, trusted cloud, he said. Virtualisation could surpass the level of control and visibility provided by physical IT.
“You can achieve safety in the cloud,” Coviello said. “We can fundamentally do security differently and better.”
This article originally appeared at scmagazineus.com
To begin commenting right away, you can log in below or register an account if you don't yet have one. Please read our guidelines on commenting. Offending posts will be removed and your access may be suspended. Abusive or obscene language will not be tolerated. The comments below do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of SC Magazine, Haymarket Media or its employees.