The Hidden Risks of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and How to Mitigate Them

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is white hot. Just ask Fortune Business Insights, which reports that the VDI market size will grow from $15.61 billion in 2024 to $80.82 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 22.8%. One catalyst behind this adoption is the view that VDI is a more secure alternative to physical desktops. While this is true in many respects, companies should not lower their defenses by thinking VDI is without fault regarding security. This type of perception can lead to dangerous complacency and, ultimately, costly breaches and attacks. 

If your company plans to shift to a virtual environment or has already made the move, it’s time to look past the many benefits and fully understand the risks and how to mitigate them.

The Misconception of VDI Security

As mentioned above, VDI adoption is driven by many factors, including its security benefits. For one, VDI doesn’t require local storage, including local devices that can be lost or stolen. Instead, it stores data on centralized servers that leverage encryption and multifactor authentication, are centrally managed, and can quickly and easily be terminated if a threat is detected.  

These elements are significant, and they do help reduce risk. However, the keywords are reduced because VDI does not eliminate them. Here are a few key vulnerabilities to consider:

• Attack vectors still exist, providing bad actors an entryway to critical servers and data. These include endpoint vulnerabilities (e.g., unsecured networks, malware, and outdated software), network and VPNS risks (e.g., unauthorized access via VPN, man-in-the-middle attack), insider threats, and more.
• The non-persistent VDI session is a misnomer. In the world of VDIs, where each session starts with a clean slate, the standard view of many security teams is that when these sessions end, all threats are shut down with it. While that may have once been a safe assumption, it’s now a recipe for disaster. Attackers are increasingly more sophisticated, leveraging advanced techniques such as fileless and polymorphic malware to ensure that malicious activities can be maintained across sessions. 

Physical or Virtual: It’s all the Same to Hackers

Whether it’s a physical or virtual desktop, it’s all the same from the attacker’s perspective. 

The exploits used on one—info stealers, banking Trojans, keyloggers, and phishing attacks—will work on the other. In addition, physical and virtual environments can each have zero-day vulnerabilities that attackers are waiting to exploit. 

Regarding VDI, the technique used most frequently is phishing, with email phishing being the most prevalent. According to email security company Valimail, more than three billion spoofing messages are sent daily and opened on virtual or physical desktops. However, when a malicious link is clicked in a virtual session, the potential fallout could be more significant since a compromised session can infiltrate broader network environments.

It’s all About Balance

Protecting a VDI environment effectively can also introduce new challenges to businesses. One is the balance of security and performance. For example, a virtual environment may experience a drop in performance when traditional endpoint protection solutions scan for known malicious software and monitor site traffic for suspicious activity. This decline in latency will ultimately affect the performance of other critical processes and, in turn, company performance. 

One way to minimize these performance dips is through a multi-layered and proactive approach. Start with endpoint protection, which leverages cloud-based solutions and conducts more data analysis in the cloud. Subsequently, there is minimal impact on performance.

Next comes network segmentation. As the name suggests, network segmentation divides the network into smaller, siloed segments. The “what goes where” differs for every business, with determinations based on how sensitive the data is and the company’s current needs. By limiting the connectivity of virtual desktops, network segmentation can minimize the risk of lateral movement in the event of a breach.

Another great choice is Zero Trust Architecture. Many businesses today have embraced a philosophy of skepticism. While being a skeptic is not considered the healthiest approach in many walks of life, that’s not true when it comes to cyber security, which includes protecting your VDI environment. This is why Zero Trust Architecture has become an element in protecting virtual environments by ensuring that no user or device is trusted by default. This added a critical layer of security to any VDI session.

Another benefit of a VDI environment is the ability to manage and update all desktop environments within a company centrally. Just think about that for a minute. Rather than counting on employees to tackle this task when they have a free moment, IT can apply necessary updates, patches, and more. This ultimately allows the company to mitigate threats more effectively, prevent unauthorized access, and more.

Don’t forget your Team

Anyone who questions the importance of employee education should look at this study done by Stanford University and Tessian. According to the research, approximately 88% of data breaches are caused by human error. In other words, training your team is essential. Focus these efforts on everything from identifying phishing and social engineering threats and what to look for to the appropriate actions to take when something doesn’t seem right. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

The Future of VDI Security

Cyber threats continue to evolve. Just look at 2024, when we saw a rise in Deepfake, supply chain, and AI-driven cyberattacks. It’s safe to say the sophistication of attacks will ascent to new heights in 2025, and those with VDI environments must act to remain one step ahead. That means looking at emerging technologies and innovative approaches such as preemptive cyber defense, automated defenses, and real-time threat detection. 

The bottom line is that businesses shifted from outdated assumptions about VDI security by recognizing the vulnerabilities inherent in VDI and taking decisive action to protect their infrastructure. By addressing the unique challenges of securing virtual environments, companies reap the benefits of these virtual environments while being protected from sophisticated cyber threats lurking around the corner.