Shavlik Technologies, the global leader in simplifying complex IT security and compliance challenges, today announced results of a survey the company conducted at the recent VMworld 2008 conference in Las Vegas. The survey of nearly 300 IT, virtualization and security specialists demonstrated that virtual machines are quickly becoming a fixture in many organizations. And while more than 80 percent of IT managers rate securing these virtual machines as “very important to critical,” only 35 percent of those surveyed have actually done so.

The survey asked conference delegates if their IT infrastructure was subject to industry or government audits (PCI, BASEL II, SOX) and if the audits included their virtual machines. About 61 percent responded that they were. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of centralizing patch management for virtual and physical systems, and 99.2 percent rated this as "important to critical."

When asked how they were responding to the requirement to secure virtual environments, 32.4 percent said that they had no security scheme in place while 37.8 percent were currently evaluating solutions for virtual security. Only 34.9 percent were using an existing security/compliance solution. Respondents were then asked to rate the importance of centralizing configuration management for virtual and physical systems, and 98.9 percent rated this category “important to critical.”

“Companies recognize the benefits of virtualization but are slower at implementing the security measures needed to protect their available information assets,” said Chris Schwartzbauer, VP Worldwide Field Operations, Shavlik Technologies. “Increased investment in automating and simplifying the elements of securing virtual machines represents a significant opportunity for companies to increase operational efficiencies and reduce the total cost of managing the security of virtual systems.”

Shavlik’s Virtual Machine Security

Shavlik NetChk Protect is the industry’s first virtual machine management solution that provides continuous patch assessment and remediation of your complete virtual world, including Offline Virtual Images. NetChk Protect extends Shavlik’s Any Patch/Any Where assessment technology to offline virtual images and fully automates continuous patch assessment and deployment which cuts costs and eases time constraints on overburdened IT staff. NetChk Protect provides more powerful security through continuous identification and remediation of gaps in your network security.