Spinning Out of Control: Securely Managing Virtual Sprawl

 

Server virtualization is taking hold. It boasts so many advantages that it is likely to become the standard for data centers around the world. It saves money by maximizing hardware resources. It reduces the number of physical servers, which reduces power consumption. It also revolutionizes server deployment by allowing servers to be copied as easily as files on the file system. Add to this the benefit of using pre-configured virtual appliances, and you should be convinced that virtual servers are good for your business.

As with any new technology, security tends to be an afterthought. Many companies that venture into virtual technologies expect that their existing security controls will apply to the new virtual environment, but virtual servers require new security approaches and controls.

In an IT department with weak or missing security controls, virtual servers will sprawl across physical hardware and quickly become unmanageable and vulnerable to attack. To jump into virtualization, it’s essential to be innovative about security and to reinvent your security controls.

Segmentation
In the physical server environment, there is some level of built-in segmentation of applications and data. They are divided by networks, and administrative privileges may be separated at the server level. Some data centers even segment their physical servers with separate rooms that require specific authorization for physical access.

Virtual servers may be operating on the same servers, logical disks, and even CPUs. In the past, physical segmentation did not require significant planning. It was more of a natural security control.

Before deploying your virtual server environment, think through how you will segment your virtual machines to compensate for the loss of physical segmentation. If you must comply with standards that require classification of critical cyber assets, you will need to spend more time to ensure that you are not commingling critical and non-critical assets on the same physical host.

Patch Management
Many companies already struggle with patch management. Virtualization will amplify the problem by making it easier to deploy servers and more challenging to patch them. If the interdependencies of applications and the lack of testing personnel hinder your patch management today, remember that virtualization will add another layer of dependencies. Now a single patch may affect more servers, more applications, and more data.

To patch virtual servers, make sure that you have policies, standards, and procedures that define acceptable practices for patching virtual servers. This should include the definition of acceptable network segments for applying patches and hardening standards for host operating systems.
Follow up with routine network vulnerability scans to report on the effectiveness of your patch management procedures. Remember that even your vulnerability assessments may need to change to accommodate specialized virtualization host operating systems, such as VMWare ESX. You may also need to redefine the severity of identified vulnerabilities to increase the priority of those found in host operating systems and hypervisors.

Server Life Cycle Management
Traditional server life cycles define the deployment, on-going operation, decommissioning, and clearing of servers. This requires good asset management controls. These controls will need to be modified to reflect the ease of copying and redeploying existing virtual servers.

Like patch management, you will need to take a close look at your policies related to the deployment, decommissioning, and clearing of servers. Establishing standards will help, but you will also need to look at asset management solutions that automate tracking of virtual assets.

Some solutions tag virtual machines and only allow authorized virtual servers to start up on a given physical host. This will help ensure that rogue devices are not started up without going through proper configuration management procedures.

Security Monitoring
If you are currently monitoring network traffic using an intrusion detection system (IDS), you may need to rethink your security monitoring strategy. Depending on the configuration, your virtual machines may be able to communicate with each other without traversing the network, which will make it impossible to monitor using a traditional IDS.

To begin with, make sure that virtual servers are not hidden behind a network address translation (NAT) scheme that prevents your IDS from distinguishing activity between virtual servers. It may require routine auditing of hypervisor configuration to ensure that each VM receives its own IP address. Also look for opportunities to deploy virtual IDS appliances on the physical servers to monitor inter-VM traffic.

Consider using your IDS to track the virtual server life cycle. This will allow you to detect when a new VM is spun up and to ensure that it is authorized on the network.

Conclusion
When jumping into server virtualization, make sure you first consider how you will need to change your practices to prevent server sprawl and security issues. Proceed with caution, and you can benefit from virtual technologies without adversely affecting your business.

29 Окт 2012 , written by Администратор
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