Virtuozzo, a leading virtualization software provider, today announced a range of new value-added services that service providers can deliver to customers using Virtuozzo containers featuring disk encryption technology. Container disk encryption allows users to protect company data and meet security requirements in production environments, while still benefiting from the lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and infrastructure agility that containers provide.

The inability to secure data in containers is widely seen as a leading reason that CIOs and IT teams at businesses of all sizes have not widely deployed containers for production applications and workloads. To address this need, Virtuozzo encrypts data "at-rest" that is used by containers - ensuring that only encrypted data is stored on the disk. When the data is loaded into memory for user access, the data is automatically decrypted (and encrypted again when writing the data back to the storage destination). Providing the end user with complete control, data used by Virtuozzo containers can only be accessed using encryption keys via integration with a Key Management System (KMS), such as Safenet or an open source alternative.

Encrypted containers featuring disk encryption from Virtuozzo support a range of use cases that enable service providers to deliver value-added services that strengthen data protection for their customers, including:

• Added data security to meet compliance needs - Help ensure that end customers meet regulatory and compliance requirements for data security when using containers.
• Better backup protection - Leverage disk encryption for backups that enable the container to be restored, but not started (or have data accessible) without a key.
• Protection against unauthorized user access - Add an extra layer of protection in the event of a software error or an attack that grants the wrong user with access to company data used by containers.
• Virtual drive and physical hardware disposal - Leverage encryption key deletion as a fast and secure method for virtual drive and hardware disposal - including lost and stolen equipment - guaranteeing data used by containers cannot be recovered by anyone.

"Keeping data safe is top of mind for every customer we have today, and a key requirement for future growth," said Philbert Shih, managing director, Structure Research. "With Virtuozzo, we're able to continue offering our customers the TCO benefits of containers, while helping them stay protected by automatically encrypting sensitive data."

"Virtuozzo is committed to providing secure solutions that support production workloads and applications," said George Karidis, CEO at Virtuozzo. "By enabling encrypted containers, service providers can offer a cutting-edge virtualization solution that brings the added data protection and security that their customers demand today."

Using encryption in Virtuozzo containers is simple and available out-of-the-box at no extra charge for users of Virtuozzo 7. The only extra step required is to specify the encryption key ID during the creation of a Virtuozzo container, or add it later for a device.

To learn more about Virtuozzo's encrypted Containers, click here.

To download the Solution brief, click here.