Legacy systems that are no longer supported by the vendor present a security risk. However, a runtime protection solution like Virsec Security Platform (VSP) provides continuous Zero Trust protection for the workload on operating systems such as Microsoft Windows 2008, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, or CentOs 6.x. It instruments the runtime environment so only authorized processes, files, libraries and their verified dependencies are able to run.

It monitors deviations in runtime and mitigates any instance of executing executables that have been added or modified, blocking malicious activities from the otherwise trusted operating system-related process. Many organizations aim to strengthen security by adhering to common best practices (i.e., monitoring logs, network activity, and permissions) and wrapping older applications inside a protective bubble secured by hardware-enforced isolation to minimize risk. However, this approach is not enough to prevent more sophisticated attacks like ransomware and zero-days. Even if your organization is making progress in patching legacy systems still supported by vendors, there often remains thousands of applications and varying workloads posing an imminent security risk that remains unresolved, especially within expansive infrastructures with thousands of known vulnerabilities.