Intel, VMware Partner to Bring Security to the Cloud

Intel and VMware are partnering to bring more security into the cloud using hardware-based security technologies.

The two companies announced this week that VMware’s vSphere 5.1 platform will support Intel’s Trusted Execution Technology (TXT). The integration will provide a hardened platform for organizations to run their business-critical applications in both private and public clouds.

Intel TXT is part of servers based on Intel Xeon processor E3, E5 and E7 series. When combined with VMware vSphere 5.1, organizations will be able to better address these challenges through increased infrastructure integrity and having greater control over the security status of servers in virtualized clouds, the companies said.

According to a recent survey by Intel, security remains a chief concern of enterprises looking to move data into the cloud. Some 61 percent of IT pros surveyed expressed concern about a lack of control and insight about security capabilities of shared, virtualized datacenter resources. Fifty-seven percent said they will not put sensitive data that must meet specific compliance requirements into cloud datacenters. In addition, 55 percent worry about loss of control of data stored off premise in public cloud provider datacenters.

 “Intel TXT provides hardware enforcement to help overcome some of the most challenging aspects of cloud security, including detection and prevention of bios attacks and evolving forms of stealthy malware, such as rootkits,” said Jason Waxman, general manager of the Intel Cloud Infrastructure Group, in a statement. “VMware vSphere 5.1 support of TXT is essential to building a foundation of trust in virtualized infrastructures and the cloud and is ready for deployment.”