VMware plans to open its hypervisor to security vendors with a set of APIs that make it easier to protect virtual machines from threats including viruses, Trojans and keyloggers. Without these APIs, security vendors building antivirus and firewall tools for virtual servers are removed from the hypervisor by several layers and therefore cannot see everything that happens within the virtual environment, according to Yankee Group Analyst Phil Hochmuth.

So what do you do when critical vulnerabilities are found in your virtual machines? Open-source to the rescue - read on for an interesting account of VMsafe, a set of APIs which should allow for better security through more isolation of virtual machines. Do you see any real improvements in security with VMsafe?

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