VMware critical zero-day vulnerabilities: 5 key points to strengthen disaster recovery strategies
On March 4, 2025, Broadcom issued a security advisory addressing zero-day vulnerabilities in its VMware virtualization software, including ESXi, Workstation, and Fusion. These vulnerabilities have a severity score as high as 9.3 (from 0 to 10, where zero means they are the least severe and 10 means they are the most severe) and show signs of active exploitation.
According to Shadowserver Foundation, a nonprofit security organization, more than 40,000 ESXi instances worldwide are currently at risk. China, France, and the United States are the top 3 affected countries.
The true impact of security vulnerabilities
A company’s IT infrastructure usually consists of a virtual machine (VM) environment in which critical systems such as databases, email servers, and financial management systems are supported. Nearly all business operations, customer relations, and economic activities rely on a stable virtual environment.
If a security vulnerability is found and leads to a cyberattack or data breach, there can be severe consequences. If financial records, customer information, and internal communications are exposed, this could lead to major compliance violations—especially for industries subject to strict data protection regulations, such as the financial or healthcare industry. The legal risks and financial losses could be catastrophic.
In the event of a security flaw that results in a ransomware attack, the hackers may demand a hefty ransom, which could result in significant downtime for businesses and permanently tarnish their reputation.
Not only does this impact enterprises, but in today’s interconnected world, a cyberattack on a company’s VM environment could also impact suppliers, partners, customers, and more, effectively leading to a supply chain crisis. This could disrupt the entire business ecosystem and magnify the impact of the cyberattack.
As you can see, given these risks, organizations must be proactive in implementing disaster recovery strategies that protect critical systems and provide long-term stability.
Strengthen your disaster recovery with Synology ActiveProtect
Companies need to implement a strong disaster recovery strategy to mitigate risks in virtualized environments and ensure fast data recovery in the event of a cyberattack. Synology ActiveProtect includes five key capabilities to help companies improve their data protection:
- Perform backups regularly to prevent data silos
ActiveProtect supports backing up multiple versions of VMware, including ESXi Free. ActiveProtect comes with an Auto Backup feature, which allows it to automatically detect and protect all virtual machines, ensuring no gaps in your data protection.
- Verify and test your backups
ActiveProtect’s built-in hypervisor automatically verifies backup images to ensure data integrity. Companies can film the entire backup verification process or manually conduct recovery tests to ensure the recovery mechanism works without impacting the production environment.
- Minimize downtime with flexible recovery options
In the event of a cyberattack or system failure, operational continuity must be prioritized. By authorizing the hypervisor to access and mount the target, you can restore your VMs within minutes and minimize disruptions to your business.
- Cross-hypervisor restoration
When a VMware environment is compromised, businesses can restore their data to another hypervisor, such as Hyper-V, to reduce risks.
- Low TCO
Unlike other backup vendors, Synology ActiveProtect appliance does not come with additional license fees based on the number of virtual machines deployed. Companies can implement a comprehensive data protection solution without worrying about added costs.
Conclusion
With the growing threats of cyberattacks, organizations must be proactive in implementing disaster recovery strategies that are capable of safeguarding your company data against ransomware attacks, security breaches, and system failures
By deploying the Synology ActiveProtect appliance, businesses can implement a reliable data protection solution to protect their virtual machine environments, reduce downtime, and prevent operational disruptions.
In the digital age, setting up a comprehensive cybersecurity and disaster recovery plan is the key to ensuring long-term stability and resilience for businesses.
Get started with ActiveProtect today: https://sy.to/wswur
