CompTIA Cloud+ Practice Test

What is the goal of patch management in an IaaS environment?

1. To ensure all applications are regularly updated

2. To minimize downtime during OS updates

3. To protect against vulnerabilities in the hypervisor

4. To maintain optimal performance of server resources

The correct answer is: To protect against vulnerabilities in the hypervisor

The goal of patch management in an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) environment primarily focuses on protecting against vulnerabilities in the hypervisor. In IaaS, the hypervisor is a critical component that enables the virtualization of hardware resources, allowing for multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server. Therefore, keeping the hypervisor secure is vital because any vulnerabilities present can lead to significant security risks, including unauthorized access to virtual machines or data breaches. Regularly applying patches to the hypervisor helps to close security gaps, fix bugs, and improve functionality, which are essential in maintaining a secure and reliable cloud environment. This is particularly important in IaaS where multiple tenants may share underlying infrastructure; a security flaw in the hypervisor could impact not just one organization, but potentially all the users on that infrastructure. While keeping applications updated, minimizing downtime during OS updates, and maintaining server performance are important aspects of overall IT management, they are not the primary focus of patch management in the context of IaaS. Instead, the imperative to secure the hypervisor from vulnerabilities takes precedence, as it underpins the entire virtualization environment and affects the security and integrity of all deployments within it.