McAfee Announces New VM Products And Services

On the heels of VMware's launch of VMsafe and Microsoft's unveiling of Windows Server 2008, McAfee announced new products and services targeted at both platforms.

The company announced its new Email and Web Security Virtual Appliance, which is built upon the VMware platform. The product, currently in beta testing, helps protect against malware, malicious Web sites, and spam.

McAfee also said it has entered into an OEM licensing agreement with VMware for VMware ESX Server 3i, which McAfee intends to use to create "purpose-built security technology."

The company's VirusScan Enterprise will work with Microsoft's new Windows Server 2008 Server, which is expected to become available in March. One unique feature of the product will be the ability to keep virus definitions up to date "on dormant virtual machine images so the systems are protected when they are turned on."

McAfee also announced that its Foundstone division now offers professional services to help enterprises that are considering the adoption virtualization technologies. The services include education as well as assistance in the deployment of VM architectures.

"With the popularity of virtualization and the rush to reap its benefits, companies may not always follow the best security best practices," said Bill Hau, vice president of McAfee Foundstone Professional Services. "Many of the security practices that work in physical computing environments also work in the virtual world, yet there are some unique requirements. Our new service will help customers meet the security requirements of these new virtual environments."