Hypervisor Nesting System for Layered-Virtualization Protection against Malicious Software

ABSTRACT: Metronome"s Nidus System is a software solution that can close every potential gap in virtualization"s emulation of normal operational environments by creating multiple-layer virtualization with awareness of what happens in which layer of the virtualization is desired. Metronome"s Nidus System provides comprehensive capabilities of: Nesting of two Hypervisor Layers. The Hypervisors themselves are hardened with security measures. The Hypervisors"respective Domains 0 are secured by hardening methods. Each layer is further built with internal Introspection capabilities and Defense mechanisms. BENEFIT: Metronome"s Nidus System provides framework for: Two Layers of Hypervisors: Nidus System includes a first-layer Type-1 Bare-Metal Hypervisor and a second-layer Type-2 Hypervisor. Nesting the Hypervisors: Nidus System nests the Type-2 Hypervisor within the user Domains of the Type-1 Bare-Metal Hypervisor. Hardening the Hypervisors: Nidus hardens both Type-1 Bare-Metal Hypervisor and Type-2 Hypervisor. Hardening the Type-1 Hypervisor Domain 0 and the Type-2 Hypervisor Sub-Domain 0: The virtual spaces in Layer 1 are designed as Domain(s) whereas the virtual spaces in Layer 2 are designated as Sub-Domain(s). Nidus hardens both Domain 0 (Type-1 Hypervisor) and Sub-Domain 0 (Type-2 Hypervisor. The hardening methods include: Introspection capability, Defense mechanisms, which are discussed further in Section 3 and 5. Compatibility with Computing Clouds: Nidus System will be implemented for the Apache Foundation"s CloudStack cloud computing technology, having compatibility with Amazon Elastic Computing Cloud (EC2) and Amazon Web Service (AWS).