Awareness of Intrusion Detection and Prevention for Virtualized Server Environment in Institutions in Tanzania

Hypervisor security is crucial for adopters to get maximum benefit from virtualized server computing resources. Several Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS) applicable with different functionalities exist. While most adopters focus on general security tools for physical networks, the attention given to IDPS specifically designed for securing hypervisors is very low. This study exposes the level of awareness of IDPS tools among key public and private adopters of server virtualization technologies in Tanzania. Only few adopters have slight awareness of the tools while majority are not aware at all, thus with respondents (N)=38, the Median was either 1.5 or 2.0 in 5-levels of scaling awareness for 8 IDS and 5 IPS tools. This awareness status implies a serious knowledge gap that is insufficient to ensure maximum protection of systems and data in virtualized infrastructures, thus adopters operate at high security risks. The need to build security skills of adopters is vital to attain maximum security of their assets.