Kaspersky Lab presents at the 2012 IDC IT Security Roadshow in Nairobi Kenya

Nairobi Kenya is hosting the 2012 IDC IT Security Roadshow today, a much anticipated event on the ICT calendar. During this roadshow, Kaspersky Lab’s senior security researcher, Stefan Tanase, is addressing the audience and presenting a paper on critical IT security needs for an ever changing threat landscape, specifically focusing on virtualization and the growing dynamic Kenyan business landscape.

Says Stefan Tanase, Senior Security Researcher, EEMEA, Global Research and Analysis Team at Kaspersky Lab; “New trends and technologies are forming at a pace that is almost impossible to keep up with, yet necessary for businesses to adapt and change their strategies for, to remain relevant and competitive today. One such trend is that of virtualization – a globally recognised phenomenon that Gartner supports, predicting that approximately 50%* of x86 architecture server workloads will be virtualized by the end of 2012”. With approximately 41 million people, Kenya is one of Africa’s fastest growing countries in terms of telecommunications infrastructure and as a result, its business landscape is growing, allowing for the opportunity of trends such as virtualization to be embraced.

Adds Tanase; “Certainly, considering the valuable business benefits that virtualization offers, like cost containment, it is easy to see why business models in Kenya should be evolving to adapt to a virtualised approach. However, while virtualization has grown, securing virtual environments needs to become a key priority for Kenyan businesses if they want to effectively embrace this trend – and it is with this in mind that we are discussing this topic in depth at this year’s IDC event.”

Gartner claims that in 2012, 60%* of virtualized servers will be less secure than the physical servers they replace – a statistic that businesses should take note of. Continues Tanase; “As virtualization allows for a company’s business-critical data to be placed on virtual machines, it is clear that the need for a reliable security system to protect the virtual environment has never been more urgent, and getting this right involves investment in the right security – one that provides real time anti-malware scanning capabilities and is able to accommodate hosts and quests of the server to ensure that businesses will be protected now and into the future, no matter what ‘new’ security threats emerge in the virtualized market.”

“Cybercriminal activities remain rife among not only consumers, but also businesses, as cybercriminals see the value of business information and use this for their own gain. When trends such as this come to light, businesses must always consider the security aspect, to avoid being a victim of cybercrime, as attackers exploit anything they can these days,” adds Tanase.

The IDC IT Security Roadshow is taking place at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, where Tanase is addressing security in the virtual environment in more detail, to bring to light security realities and the corrective measures that need to be implemented to ensure that businesses operating in Kenya and around the globe are able to embrace virtualization without any security hassles.

“It comes back to proactive security – something that Kaspersky Lab constantly emphasise. However if a business is not aware of the IT security risks and how to go about minimising these, how can they embrace such trends effectively? Thus addressing such issues is key and a strong focus for us, as we want to see businesses benefit from virtualization the way they should be,” concludes Tanase.

*Security for Virtualization: Finding the right balance, Combining protection and performance in your virtualized environment, http://www.kaspersky.co.uk/downloads/pdf/virtualization.pdf

For more information of Kaspersky Security for Virtualization, please visit the following link: http://www.kaspersky.co.za/beready?

For more information on the IDC event please visit: http://events.idc-cema.com/eng/events/48496-idc-it-security-roadshow-2012