And hacker attack is continuing to create disruptions all over the world, including Italy. And at the center of the story are the server VMware ESXi: what is this simulation platform used all over the world?
VMware ESXi, what the platform affected by the hacker attack is and how it works
The VMware ESXi platform is a virtualization product from VMware, a component of their infrastructure. A virtual infrastructure like that of ESXi allows you to simulate one or more operating systems on a computer or server, for professional purposes. This type of services allow greater flexibility to companies, to provide online services to users of different types.
In recent days, however, this platform has been under attack by hackers. However, VMware provided a security patch covering the vulnerability exploited by hackers as early as February 2021: two years ago.
So, all companies that have upgraded to the latest version of the service shouldn’t have any kind of problem. But why several systems are offline or struggling?
Security experts always urge companies to update systems as soon as possible, but this doesn’t always happen quickly. The reasons are different: they range from simple inattention to technical needs. In fact, often updates take time because you have to adapt your applications or services. Also, updating requires suspending activities and this needs planning to avoid leaving users without services. However, many experts think that two years without updates is too much.
However, the ransomware attack suffered by enterprises through this vulnerability could impact end users. Indeed they could be lost or disclosed of user data. However, the situation will vary from company to company.