Shielded VMs: Ensuring Confidentiality and Integrity of Data On GCP

Introduction

The logic behind the shielded VMs in GCP is to secure cloud resources. The issue of Security is paramount in the dynamic landscape of cloud computing. As organizations migrate their workloads to the cloud, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of their data becomes even more critical. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) recognizes this need and offers a robust solution in the form of Shielded VMs. Shielded VMs are designed to provide an additional layer of security, reducing the attack surface and mitigating threats to your virtual machines. We are now aware of the logic behind Shielded VMs in GCP, we shall also examine their key features, benefits, and how they contribute to enhancing the security of your cloud infrastructure.

What are Shielded VMs?

Shielded VMs are virtual machines in GCP that are specially configured to protect against rootkits and boot-level malware. They are created to offer a higher level of security compared to regular VMs by leveraging a combination of hardware and software-based security measures. These measures are designed to protect the integrity and confidentiality of your VMs, particularly during the boot process.

Furthermore, Shielded VMs are virtual machines (VMs) on Google Cloud fortified by a set of security controls that help defend against rootkits and exfiltration. The use of Shielded VMs on GCP helps protect organization workloads from threats like remote attacks, privilege escalation, and malicious insiders. 

What is a Shielded Coordination?

Shielded VMs are the first offering in the shielded coordination. Shielded coordination provides a more secure foundation for all of GCP by providing verifiable integrity and offering features like the vTPM shielding and ceiling that help prevent data accentuation. However, to use the Shielded VMs feature you have to select the Machine Image.

Some Key Features of Shielded VMs

Shielded VMs offer veritable integrity to the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) which includes;

1. Secure Boot Process: Shielded VMs use a secure boot process that verifies the digital signatures of each component of the boot sequence, from firmware to the OS kernel. This ensures that only trusted code is executed during startup, reducing the risk of boot-level attacks.
2. vTPM (Virtual Trusted Platform Module): Shielded VMs include a virtual TPM, which is a hardware-based security feature that helps protect encryption keys and certificates. This enhances the security of data at rest and ensures that cryptographic operations are performed securely within the VM.
3. Measured Boot: During the boot process, Shielded VMs create a cryptographic measurement of each component loaded into memory. These measurements are stored securely and can be used for attestation and monitoring purposes to detect any unauthorized changes.
4. Integrity Monitoring: Shielded VMs include integrity monitoring features that continuously monitor the VM’s runtime state. If any unauthorized modifications are detected, you can receive alerts and take appropriate actions to remediate the issue.

Now that we’ve covered the key features of Shielded machines, let’s explore the logic behind them and why they are essential for cloud security.

Why Shielded VMs is Essential for Cloud Security

• Protection Against Rootkits and Malware

Basically, they are designed to protect against rootkits and malware that target the boot process of virtual machines. The traditional VMs are vulnerable to these types of attacks because they lack the necessary safeguards to ensure the integrity of the boot process. Shielded Virtual machines, on the other hand, use secure boot and vTPM to prevent unauthorized code from executing during startup. This reduces the risk of boot-level attacks, ensuring that your VMs start in a known and secure state.

• Attestation and Provenance

One key advantage of Shielded virtual machines is their ability to provide attestation and provenance information. Attestation allows you to verify the integrity of a VM by checking its measurements against a trusted baseline. Provenance, on the other hand, provides a history of the VM’s boot and runtime state changes.

This logic behind Shielded virtual machines is crucial for security and compliance purposes. By having a reliable attestation and provenance mechanism, you can demonstrate to auditors and regulators that your VMs have not been tampered with and are running in a secure state. This is especially important in highly regulated industries such as finance and healthcare.

• Continuous Monitoring and Detection

Another critical aspect of the logic behind Shielded virtual machines is their ability to continuously monitor the VM’s runtime state and detect any unauthorized changes. This is achieved through integrity monitoring, which checks the cryptographic measurements of the VM’s components against a trusted baseline.

If an unauthorized change is detected, you can take immediate action to investigate and remediate the issue. This proactive approach to security helps you identify and respond to threats quickly, reducing the potential impact of security incidents.

• Enhanced Data Security

Shielded VMs also contribute to enhanced data security. The inclusion of vTPM ensures that encryption keys and certificates are protected within the VM. This is essential for securing data at rest and ensuring that cryptographic operations are performed securely.

In a multi-tenant cloud environment, where multiple virtual machines share the same physical infrastructure, protecting encryption keys and certificates is crucial to prevent data leakage and unauthorized access. Shielded virtual machines provide a robust solution to this problem.

• Assurance and Trust

Ultimately, the logic behind Shielded VMs is to provide assurance and trust in the security of your virtual machines. By implementing secure boot, vTPM, measured boot, and integrity monitoring, GCP offers a strong security foundation for your workloads.

As organizations increasingly rely on the cloud for critical business operations, they need assurance that their cloud infrastructure is secure and that their data is protected. Shielded VMs give you that assurance, allowing you to focus on your core business while GCP takes care of the security aspects.

Benefits of Shielded VMs

Here we highlight some of the key benefits Shielded VMs offer, which include:

1. Enhanced Security: Shielded VMs provide a higher level of security by protecting against rootkits, malware, and unauthorized changes to the boot process.
2. Compliance: Shielded VMs help organizations meet regulatory compliance requirements by providing attestation and provenance information.
3. Quick Detection and Response: The continuous monitoring and detection capabilities of Shielded VMs enable rapid response to security incidents.
4. Data Protection: Shielded VMs enhance data security by safeguarding encryption keys and certificates within the VM.
5. Trust and Assurance: They provide assurance and trust in the security of your cloud infrastructure, giving you peace of mind.

How to Create Shielded VMs on the Google Cloud Platform

Note: You should have a GCP project with billing enabled, and you also need to have the appropriate permissions to create VM instances.

1. Open the Google Cloud Console: Go to the Google Cloud Console.
2. Select or Create a Project: You can either select an existing project or create a new one.
3. Enable the Compute Engine API: In your project, make sure the Compute Engine API is enabled. You can do this by going to “APIs & Services” > “Library” and searching for “Compute Engine API.” Enable it if it’s not already enabled.
4. Create a Shielded VM Instance: In the Cloud Console, navigate to “Compute Engine” > “VM instances.”
5. Click “Create Instance”:
   1. Provide a name for your instance.
   1. Choose a region and zone where your instance will be located.
   1. Configure your instance with the desired machine type, boot disk, and additional settings.
6. Enable Shielded VM Protection: In the “Boot disk” section, you should see an option for “Security” or “Shielded VM.” Click on it.
   1. Enable “Shielded VM.”
7. Configure Other VM Settings: Continue configuring other settings for your VM, such as network settings, tags, and any startup scripts as needed.
8. Click “Create”: Once you have configured your VM to your requirements, click the “Create” button to create the shielded VM instance.
9. Wait for the Instance to Start: Your shielded VM instance will take a few moments to start up.
10. Access Your Shielded VM: Once the VM is running, you can SSH into it or access it through other means as needed.

Please note that you may need to configure other security settings, such as firewall rules and IAM permissions, to properly secure your shielded VM and control access to it. Also, note that the GCP services and interfaces are subject to changes so I recommend checking the latest GCP documentation on Shielded VMs for any such changes or additional features.

Conclusion

Shielded VMs in Google Cloud Platform stand as a robust and logical solution to protect your virtual machines from rootkits, malware, and unauthorized changes in the ever-changing world of cloud security. By implementing secure boot, vTPM, measured boot, and integrity monitoring, Shielded VMs offer enhanced security, compliance capabilities, and trust in your cloud infrastructure.

As more and more organizations continue to embrace the cloud for their workloads, the importance of security cannot be overstated. Shielded VMs play a crucial role in ensuring that your cloud-based applications and data remain secure, allowing you to focus on innovation and growth while GCP takes care of the security aspects. So, the next time you consider deploying virtual machines in Google Cloud, think about Shielded VMs and the peace of mind they bring to your cloud security strategy.