By Gary Sloane, VMware End-User-Computing Consultant
Do you remember the guy from Los Alamos who lost a laptop full of weapon plans? How about that database of veterans’ names and social security numbers accidentally left in an airport? Losses like these could all have been prevented by VDI solutions, such as VMware Horizon with View. Enforcement of policies on taking sensitive material off-premises would have been useful, too, but the use of View desktops instead of physical PCs would have been sufficient.
Ah, the good old days!
Today, the breaches are more numerous, frequent, and complex, with more mobile devices at risk and more serious and sophisticated forms of attack. From Stuxnet to Heartbleed to Backoff to less dramatic incidents—like the theft of a billion usernames and passwords—new threats are emerging all the time.
So, if you are a system or network administrator, or a security officer, the good news is: There are ways to reduce your attack vectors. The bad news is that these suggestions are often ignored.
The new VMware Horizon with View Security Hardening Overview provides a broad discussion of the security issues facing VDI administrators. It includes both general advice about the evolving threat landscape and specific recommendations for hardening Horizon 6 with View and implementing a defense-in-depth strategy.
The advice is good. Do not ignore it.
