Almost any IT department worth its salt is deploying virtualization technology today to reduce power usage, make server and OS deployments more flexible, and better use storage and systems resources. But as virtualization technology gains in popularity, it may bring with it new risks, said Don Simard, the commercial solutions director at the U.S. National Security Agency, the electronic intelligence and cryptographic agency once so secret its very existence was a secret. At the same time, virtualization technology may bring new protections, he noted.
One of the NSA's roles is to work with technology providers to help them make their wares more secure, both to help government
agencies using them and to reduce threats that could affect the commercial sector and thus the national economy. Sometimes,
the NSA also wants to ensure it has back-door access to commercial systems.
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