Comprehensive Testing of Software and Hardware Data Security Tools Using Virtualization

Abstract

The article considers the need to use modern virtualization tools in the process of developing, assembling and testing software and hardware data security tools. Such data security tools include hardware components that implement key security functions, but also impede the use of number of testing tools. The use of virtualization tools for software and hardware data security tools allows to perform security checks, which are difficult to test on physical computing hardware, for example: security functions that run independently of the operating system of computing facility or before starting the user session. However, using virtualization tools may degrade the “purity” of the testing process, so it is necessary to ensure that software implementation of the hardware devices’ virtual connection interfaces and virtual machine components comply with existing standards and specifications. Depending on the connection interface of hardware components of data security tools, it is possible to use the built-in capabilities of virtualization tools or existing AMD IOMMU and Intel Vt-d technologies to redirect these components to a virtual environment.