Bitdefender sets new standard for virtualised infrastructure security.

Bitdefender has unveiled its Hypervisor-based Memory Introspection technology that solves the ‘context versus isolation’ dilemma of security for virtualisation vendors and data centre administrators. The technology will provide complete insight into virtualised endpoints with zero footprint within the endpoints; this is accomplished by inspection at the hypervisor level – a method that was deemed impossible, until now.

The result of Bitdefender’s advanced research efforts, Hypervisor-based Memory Introspection further empowers data centre owners in protecting data within virtualised endpoints. It protects Windows and Linux endpoints from a level in the stack that is below guest operating systems, overcoming privilege paradoxes between security and malicious activities.

There are known privilege limitations in operating systems that traditional in-guest security solutions are unable to address due to architectural constraints. Traditionally, security companies have been able to build solutions only at the only same, ring-zero/root/administrator level of privilege as advanced persistent threats (APTs) – resulting in a game of equal privilege between attackers and defenders.

Bitdefender Hypervisor-based Memory Introspection uses a higher level of privilege by leveraging hypervisor privileges (ring-minus-one) to detect and defeat attacks and previously installed malware. Avoiding the assumption of a clean-state of the protected infrastructure, remediation techniques also take advantage of a unique method of injecting Bitdefender Clean-Up Tools into a running virtual endpoint. The company intends to make the technology widely available to customers by late 2015.

“Fundamentally, when both security and attackers are operating with kernel-level permissions, we encounter a stand-off situation,” states Mihai Don?u, Chief Linux Officer at Bitdefender. “Virtualisation revolutionised computing by adding a layer of abstraction below operating systems, and our technology brings enhanced security to that layer.”

The Hypervisor-based Memory Introspection announcement closely follows the recent announcement of Bitdefender having become a Silver member of the Linux Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux and collaboration. By joining the Linux Foundation, Bitdefender further accelerates its significant contribution to the Linux ecosystem, focusing on driving security in new directions. As a new Linux Foundation member, Bitdefender strengthens its participation in the broader community of open source development and collaboration behind Linux.

"We are a major supporter of Linux and open source projects throughout the world, and joining the Linux Foundation demonstrates our commitment to the advancement of better security solutions to protect open source programs and projects,” states Rares Stefan, Vice President of Global Alliances at Bitdefender. “We’ve worked with the community for some time to identify and resolve several potential vulnerabilities and Bitdefender’s continued work in this area is growing in both scope and demand.”