Summary

The goal of this introductory chapter was to provide an overview of the threats and vulnerabilities that apply to a virtual infrastructure. From a security and compliance standpoint, every system should undergo a proper risk assessment. The risk equation has been presented along with a high-level introduction to the defense-in-depth philosophy.

Example threats and vulnerabilities have been highlighted for the hypervisor, guest virtual machine, network, storage, and physical categories. As threats continue to evolve and vulnerabilities are identified, vendors such as VMware provide patches and updates to keep their products secure and ensure system integrity. It is always a good idea to check new software versions for vulnerabilities before performing an upgrade.

While this chapter provided an overview and baseline information, the remainder of the book will be presented in the typical cookbook format. Each chapter will provide specific recipes for securing your vSphere infrastructure.