Onboading VM

Simplify security onboarding and automate policy creation by using AccuKnox to protect your VM workloads at runtime.

Managing cloud workloads requires more than just deploying virtual machines (VMs); it demands continuous runtime protection to detect and block emerging threats. With AccuKnox’s intelligent onboarding process and automated policy discovery, you can secure your VMs quickly and efficiently, without manual rule-writing or complex integrations.

In this demo, we walk through how to onboard a VM into AccuKnox and leverage the platform’s autodiscovery capabilities to create least-privilege runtime security policies based on real observed behavior.

Step-by-Step: VM Onboarding and Autodiscovery of Runtime Policies

• Navigate to the AccuKnox CNAPP platform and go to Settings > Manage Cluster. This section centralizes all cluster and VM onboarding activities.
  
• Click "Onboard Now" and, in the cluster type dropdown, select VM to indicate that you are onboarding an individual virtual machine rather than a Kubernetes cluster.
  
• Copy the AccuKnox CLI installation command provided on the screen. This command installs the lightweight AccuKnox agent on your VM, enabling monitoring and policy enforcement capabilities.
  
• Access your VM’s terminal and paste the installation command. Run it to install the AccuKnox agent, ensuring that the VM is prepared for registration and monitoring.
  
• Copy the second onboarding command from the AccuKnox interface and execute it in your terminal. This command finalizes the onboarding by securely registering your VM with the AccuKnox platform.
  
• Confirm that onboarding was successful by verifying that your VM appears under your managed resources in the AccuKnox dashboard.
  
• Navigate to Runtime Protection > Policies in the AccuKnox platform. Open the cluster dropdown menu and select your newly onboarded VM cluster to view runtime security settings.
  
• Click on the "Discovered Policies" tab to access the automatically generated runtime policies. These policies are based on real observations of the VM’s file, process, and network activities during its baseline operation.
  
• Review the list of autodiscovered policies, which may include allowed processes, network communications, and file access patterns. These policies are designed to harden your environment by enforcing only what is necessary for workload functionality.
  
• Save or customize the discovered policies to build a strong runtime defense for your VM, blocking unauthorized behaviors and reducing the risk of exploits and misconfigurations.
  

Why Autodiscovery Matters for VM Security

Traditional security policy creation often requires deep application knowledge and manual rule writing, which can be slow, error-prone, and resource-intensive. In dynamic cloud environments, this manual approach simply doesn’t scale.

AccuKnox addresses this challenge by:

• Automatically baselining normal workload behavior and generating policies aligned with least-privilege principles.
  
• Accelerating security onboarding by eliminating the need for lengthy manual policy development.
  
• Reducing operational overhead while maintaining strong runtime defenses.
  
• Helping teams apply compliance standards (e.g., CIS Benchmarks, NIST frameworks) without guesswork.
  

By enabling automatic discovery of expected activities, AccuKnox ensures that your VM workloads are protected from both known and unknown threats at runtime.

How AccuKnox Enhances Runtime Protection for VMs

Once your VM is onboarded and protected by autodiscovered policies, AccuKnox’s runtime defense capabilities include:

• File System Protection: Control access to sensitive files and directories to prevent unauthorized reading or tampering.
  
• Process Monitoring and Enforcement: Allow only trusted processes to execute, blocking suspicious binaries or exploit payloads in real time.
  
• Network Observability and Control: Track ingress and egress network connections and block unexpected external communications.
  
• Real-time Threat Detection: Receive immediate alerts if any policy violations or anomalous behaviors are detected.
  
• Inline Mitigation: Automatically block unauthorized actions at the system call level before damage can occur.
  

This continuous, proactive approach significantly reduces your attack surface and improves your overall cloud security posture.

Faster VM Protection with AccuKnox

In today’s cloud-driven world, securing workloads at runtime is non-negotiable.
Manual policy management is no longer sufficient — organizations need automation, intelligence, and real-time enforcement to stay ahead of evolving threats.

By onboarding your VMs into AccuKnox and using its powerful autodiscovery features, you gain the ability to:

• Secure workloads rapidly without manual complexity.
  
• Enforce strict least-privilege policies tailored to real behavior.
  
• Detect and block threats automatically — before they impact your environment.
  

Get runtime protection you can trust.
Onboard your VMs easily and secure them efficiently — with AccuKnox.