You may have seen news of an advisory statement from VMware regarding a security issue affecting some of its virtualization products, including VMware Fusion. We wanted to reassure Parallels Desktop for Mac users that this is NOT a concern for them. We recognize that security is a huge priority for you, particularly when it comes to running Windows on a Mac, so we have made our guest operating system as isolated as possible from the host (and any other guests being run).
As the
Coherence mode of Parallels Desktop for Mac cleverly makes Windows (the guest OS) appear as though it is integrated with the Mac OSX (the host OS), it may seem like the two have merged, but in fact they are completely isolated from each other (as they are in any other view mode). Further, virtualization is actually a safer alternative to running Windows than a hard partition, because it keeps data contained within a single file. For Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac this file is kept within the Mac OS X documents. That means if anything were to happen to one VM, the problem would stay isolated, and vice versa a Windows VM would be isolated from Mac operations.
This general approach is common to Mac virtualization solutions; however, VMware has reported a flaw in their approach that means the guest operating system in Fusion is able to execute code on the host so an attacker that gains access to the guest operating system would also be able to compromise the host. Parallels Desktop for Mac does not have any such vulnerability: each operating system remains completely isolated from all others, be they guest or host. We also want to assure our users that we will continue to be vigilant and actively monitor the situation to safeguard our customers.
Security is paramount to us, which is why we include
Parallels Internet Security powered by Kaspersky free with Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, giving Mac users more comprehensive internet security than any other desktop virtualization solution (it includes firewall, anti-virus, privacy control, anti-spam, parental control, etc). We will continue to do everything we can to protect our users against security risks, and we’re very happy to report that Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac remains the safest way to run Windows on a Mac!
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VMware already issued a fix to this. You didn't note that in your article...
Posted by: Jeff Reynolds | April 17, 2009 at 03:41 PM
We did begin by saying VMware had released an advisory covering the problem, so it seemed clear enough. The post is geared more to address any concern over the possibility of similar flaws in Parallels products, so with that focus in mind it was less detailed on what VMware was doing.
In any event, you'll find that a blog update has now been posted following this one which points out the patch.
Posted by: Sean Gibbons | April 20, 2009 at 11:19 AM