Hey everyone!

I know, it’s been a while since I blogged. It’s been an insanely busy time here at VMware, especially for vSphere security. VMworld US and Europe vSphere security sessions were very popular! And since then, I’ve been traveling a whole bunch, meeting customers and talking about security operations. A recurring ask has been “How can I learn to run my vSphere and NSX environments more securely?”

Well, that is about to be answered! With input from myself and Chris McCain and the tireless work of the VMware Education team putting the content together I’m proud to say there is now a course for SDD Security Operations!

Entitled “Security Operations for the Software Defined Data Center”, the course is for vSphere admins who are getting pressured to run their infrastructure in a more secure fashion. And based on the crowds in my VMworld sessions, this should be SUPER popular!!!

Here’s a quick overview of the course and it’s objectives:

In the VMware Security Operations for the Software-Defined Data course, we teach you how to use the VMware Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) product portfolio and tools to better manage administrator access, harden your VMware vSphere® environment, and secure data at rest and in motion. We also cover compliance and automation to help you ensure your deployments align with your security policies.

Describe the concepts involved in securing a software-defined data center and protecting the data in the data center

Manage vSphere administrator access to hosts and the VMware vCenter Server™ system based on identified job roles and requirements

Implement best-practice security of vSphere components based on organizational security policies

Configure data protection for data at rest and data in motion

Manage protection for virtual machines, endpoints, and networks

Use micro-segmentation to protect and manage multitier applications and network data

Perform activity monitoring and logging, and explore relevant logs to meet compliance requirements

Use VMware NSX™ security groups, policies, and tags to automate deployment and security processes

Use automation to respond to security-related events

So, where can you learn more? VMware Education! Here’s the link

If you take the course, please send me some feedback. A lot of hard work went into it, especially by the VMware Education folks. We’re already talking about an update late next year to incorporate “future” stuff. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

mike