Which of the following is an IS auditor's BEST recommendation for mitigating risk associated with rapid expansion of hosts within a virtual environment?
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A. B. C. D.D.
The rapid expansion of hosts within a virtual environment can lead to various risks, such as virtual machine sprawl, resource contention, security vulnerabilities, and compliance issues. To mitigate these risks, the IS auditor should make the following recommendation:
D. Implement policies and processes to control virtual machine (VM) lifecycle management.
Explanation:
Virtual machine (VM) lifecycle management refers to the set of activities and controls that govern the creation, deployment, configuration, usage, monitoring, and disposal of virtual machines in a virtual environment. The purpose of VM lifecycle management is to ensure that virtual machines are properly designed, configured, and managed to meet the business needs, technical requirements, and security objectives of the organization. The following are some of the key aspects of VM lifecycle management:
Planning and design: Before creating a virtual machine, it is important to determine its purpose, performance requirements, security controls, and compliance obligations. This involves assessing the business and technical risks associated with the virtual machine and selecting the appropriate hardware, software, and configurations to support it. The IS auditor should review the planning and design process to ensure that it is aligned with the organization's goals and policies.
Provisioning and deployment: Once a virtual machine is designed, it needs to be provisioned and deployed in a controlled and secure manner. This involves setting up the virtual hardware, installing the guest operating system and applications, configuring the network and storage settings, and applying security patches and updates. The IS auditor should review the provisioning and deployment process to ensure that it follows the organization's standard procedures and that all necessary controls are in place.
Monitoring and management: After a virtual machine is deployed, it needs to be monitored and managed to ensure its availability, performance, and security. This involves using various tools and techniques to collect and analyze data about the virtual machine's resource usage, behavior, and events. The IS auditor should review the monitoring and management process to ensure that it provides timely and accurate information about the virtual machines and that any issues or exceptions are addressed promptly.
Retirement and disposal: When a virtual machine is no longer needed or reaches the end of its useful life, it needs to be retired and disposed of properly. This involves removing all sensitive and confidential data, wiping the virtual hard drive, and deleting the virtual machine from the hypervisor's inventory. The IS auditor should review the retirement and disposal process to ensure that it follows the organization's data retention and destruction policies and that all data is securely and irreversibly deleted.
Implementing policies and processes to control VM lifecycle management is the best recommendation for mitigating the risk associated with rapid expansion of hosts within a virtual environment because it enables the organization to:
Limiting access to the hypervisor OS and administration console (A) is a valid control for reducing the risk of unauthorized access or modification of virtual machines, but it does not address the root cause of the risk associated with rapid expansion of hosts. Moreover, limiting access to the hypervisor can also impede the flexibility and efficiency of managing virtual machines.
Ensuring quick access to updated images of a guest OS for fast recovery (B) is a valid control for improving the availability and resilience of virtual machines, but it does not address the other risks associated with rapid expansion of hosts, such as security, compliance, and resource