Introducing Agentless Scanning for VMware vSphere Workloads

Driven by customer feedback, Runecast introduces an industry first – agentless scanning for Windows and Linux workloads running on VMware. This eliminates the need for agent deployment and management for new and existing workloads. It is yet another way that we can help you boost your teams' productivity and efficiency.

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It's an exciting time in the industry. Cloud environments, particularly CNAPP (Cloud Native Application Platform) solutions, have seen major players like Runecast, Wiz.io, Orca Security, and Microsoft integrating agentless scanning. However, for VMware environments, the agentless approach has been relatively untouched – until now.

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With our industry-first agentless workload scanning for VMware vSphere, we are taking a big step towards empowering organizations to keep their Windows and Linux workloads secure and compliant in the most efficient way.

Agentless Scanning for VMware Workloads 

This new capability from Runecast is designed to streamline workload security for VMware by introducing agentless vulnerability scanning. 

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Runecast allows users to perform agentless scanning across all their Virtual Machine instances running Windows or Linux, simplifying the setup and scanning process, and also reducing the overhead associated with managing agents and any potential performance issues.

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Agentless scanning does not require agents to be installed for each workload and instead reaches out from the server to the assets. This eliminates installing and managing additional software on all devices. This lightweight method of scanning for security vulnerabilities reduces the attack surface of an environment, removes the necessity to upgrade agents deployed, and frees up resources. 

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[fs-toc-h2]No Agent Deployment

Time is saved when connecting to large workload deployments and new workloads in the environment. Without the need for agents, agentless scanning can monitor the whole environment, recognizing every host and virtual machine. This facilitates the discovery and examination of assets that could otherwise be overlooked by scanning methods that rely on agents. 

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The analysis is performed by taking a snapshot of the virtual machine to be scanned, mounting the disk to the lightweight Runecast scanner appliance which scans for vulnerabilities and security compliance. The whole process takes from a few seconds or a few minutes depending on the size of disks. On completion the snapshot is then deleted. Notably, users have the flexibility to refine this procedure, choosing particular VMs for scanning by utilizing vSphere tags.

[fs-toc-h2]Eliminates Agent Management

Every agent deployment necessitates installation, setup, and periodic updates. In large, ever-changing environments, this can lead to considerable additional work and complexity. With agentless scanning these overheads are removed, enabling administrators to focus on remediating issues.

[fs-toc-h2]Does Not Impact Performance

Agents consume system resources which can degrade workload performance. Agentless scanning eliminates this concern.

[fs-toc-h2]Reduces the Attack Surface

Each software deployment within an environment opens up a new pathway for potential attacks, creating additional points through which an intruder might breach your systems. By vastly reducing the number of deployments, through agentless scanning, the number of potential attack vectors is likewise diminished.

[fs-toc-h2]Ensures Comprehensive Scanning

With the ability to monitor the entire VMware environment, our approach recognizes and connects with every host and virtual machine. This ensures that no asset goes unnoticed, especially compared to agent-dependent scanning methods.

Conclusion 

Runecast provides easier VMware vSphere workload scanning without the necessity to deploy agents, ensuring you can get immediate results with the minimum of effort, no maintenance requirements, reduced attack vectors in your environment and less vital resources required to run the solution. 

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While our groundbreaking agentless scanning feature has taken the spotlight, it's essential to note that we remain versatile in our approach to security and compliance. For businesses that have integrated or prefer agent-based detection systems, we have you covered. We continue to provide robust support for agent-based detection alongside our innovative agentless feature. This dual capability – both agentless and agent-based – showcases Runecast's dedication to enhancing security across the board, ensuring every customer can find a fit that aligns perfectly with their operational preferences.

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Note: This feature is in Beta and is currently planned to be Generally Available in October 2023.

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We value your opinion and want to hear your feedback on this and future releases. There are several ways for you to provide feedback.

1. One way is through the "Give us feedback" option in the top menu within the Runecast UI. This allows you to directly submit your thoughts and suggestions to our team.
2. Another way is by enabling the "Improvement program" which you will find in Settings. By doing this you will opt-in to automatically share anonymous usage data and feedback with our team, so that we can use that to improve everyone’s Runecast experience.
3. Or you can use our Contact Form.

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We believe that your input is crucial in helping us improve and enhance the user experience.

If you would like to find out more about how your teams can benefit from these and existing features, contact our team for a demo.

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