Security hardening of virtual machines at time of creation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016357968-A1
Application number	US-201514728720-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 2, 2015
Priority date	Jun 2, 2015
Publication date	Dec 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

In a computer-implemented method for security hardening of a virtual machine at time of creation, creation of a virtual machine hosted by a pre-configured hyper-converged computing device is initiated in a virtualization infrastructure, wherein a centralized management tool is for centralized management of the virtualization infrastructure. User selected parameters for a security policy are accessed via the centralized management tool. The security policy is associated to the virtual machine such that the virtual machine is security hardened at the time of creation, wherein the security policy associated with the virtual machine comprises the user selected parameters.

First claim

1 . A computer-implemented method for security hardening of a virtual machine at time of creation of said virtual machine, said computer-implemented method comprising:
initiating creation of said virtual machine hosted by a pre-configured hyper-converged computing device in a virtualization infrastructure, wherein a centralized management tool is provided for centralized management of said virtualization infrastructure; accessing user selected parameters for a security policy via said centralized management tool; and associating said security policy with said virtual machine such that said virtual machine is security hardened at said time of creation of said virtual machine, wherein said security policy associated with said virtual machine comprises said user selected parameters.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said associating said security policy with said virtual machine is implemented at time of first powering on of said pre-configured hyper-converged computing device.

3 . (canceled)

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said security policy is one of a plurality of security policies each having a different risk profile.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein said parameters are displayed and selectable via a user interface of said centralized management tool.

6 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions embodied therein that when executed cause a computer system to perform a method of security hardening of a virtual machine at time of creation of said virtual machine, the method comprising:
accessing user selected parameters for a security policy via a centralized management tool, wherein said accessing is in response to creation of said virtual machine, said virtual machine hosted by a pre-configured hyper-converged computing device, and wherein said centralized management tool is provided for centralized management of a virtualization infrastructure; and associating said security policy with said virtual machine such that said virtual machine is security hardened at said time of creation of said virtual machine, wherein said security policy associated with said virtual machine comprises said user selected parameters.

7 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein said associating said security policy with said virtual machine is implemented at time of first powering on of said pre-configured hyper-converged computing device.

8 . (canceled)

9 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein said security policy is one of a plurality of security policies each having a different risk profile.

10 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein said parameters are displayed and selectable via a user interface of said centralized management tool.

Assignees

• Vmware Inc

Inventors

• Lam William

Classifications

• G06F2009/45587

  Isolation or security of virtual machine instances · CPC title

• G06F21/53

  by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine · CPC title

• G06F2221/034

  Test or assess a computer or a system · CPC title

• G06F21/577 Primary

  Assessing vulnerabilities and evaluating computer system security · CPC title

• G06F9/45533

  Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors · CPC title