Google Cloud Now Includes a New Threat Detection Layer for Virtual Machines

On Monday, Google unveiled the public trial of a new tool to identify vulnerabilities within Virtual Machines (VMs) running on its Google cloud infrastructure.

The new Virtual Machine Threat Detection (VMTD) feature, which is now available in the Security Command Center (SCC), performs agentless memory scanning to assist in the detection of cryptocurrency-mining malware and other threats in Virtual Machines (VMs).

According to a note announcing the capabilities, the amount of attacks targeting the cloud has expanded considerably as more enterprises use cloud technology, and VMTD is one of the activities Google is taking to help clients secure their assets.

The majority of hacked cloud instances are used for cryptocurrency mining, Google introduced VMTD to guard against data exfiltration and malware. Because Virtual Machines Threat Detection operates from outside the guest VM instance, it doesn’t require guest agents or specific guest OS configuration, and it’s immune to complex malware countermeasures, Google explained.

The primary goal of Virtual Machine Threat Detection (VMTD) is to assist customers in detecting potentially malicious behavior within their VMs without having them use additional software, ensuring that performance is not harmed and the attack surface remains small.