Hello,
i know that it's hard to break out of a virtual machine, but I wonder how about the other way round.
How hard is it for host processes to break INTO a virtual machine?
Background:
A client of mine wants his employees to connect to their office from home. But they are not allowed to use their private PCs for this. So one option is to buy a notebook for each of them and the other option is to install a clean Windows in a virtual machine and run it on their private (Windows) PCs.
Is this a safe option (in other words: is this as good as a dedicated PC?)
Can for example a malicious program at the host manipulate or interfere the virtual machine?
Any idea where to find infos on this subject?
Security question
-
mpack
- Site Moderator
- Posts: 39134
- Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
- Primary OS: MS Windows 10
- VBox Version: PUEL
- Guest OSses: Mostly XP
Re: Security question
I assume that the envisioned threat is from host malware, not the employees themselves.
The scenario is host malware not purpose designed to invade VMs? In that case the VMs are perfectly safe.
If the scenario is VM aware software on the host then of course VMs can be altered by host software, in fact VirtualBox is an example of a program which can do this.
The main threat is the ability to open any disk and read or alter the contents in any way you like. I guess encryption would prevent this, but encryption has its own risks, mainly that any slipup loses the entire content of the drive. However if a disposable VM is just used for VPN and no data is stored then perhaps this might be the best option.
The scenario is host malware not purpose designed to invade VMs? In that case the VMs are perfectly safe.
If the scenario is VM aware software on the host then of course VMs can be altered by host software, in fact VirtualBox is an example of a program which can do this.
The main threat is the ability to open any disk and read or alter the contents in any way you like. I guess encryption would prevent this, but encryption has its own risks, mainly that any slipup loses the entire content of the drive. However if a disposable VM is just used for VPN and no data is stored then perhaps this might be the best option.