While VMware is working on a new set of APIs, VMsafe, which allows 3rd party security products to check the whole virtual infrastructure at hypervisor level, IBM announces that is working on a similar (but much more limited) technology.
Called codename PHANTOM, the new IBM product is an Intrusion Protection System (IPS) coming from the recent acquisition of ISS, which sits inside a virtual machine and, exactly like upcoming VMsafe-ready products, controls the other virtual machines without direct interaction, but throught the hypervisor.
It’s not clear if this product will support VMware ESX though VMsafe or if it will support other hypervisors. IBM doesn’t even provide any release timeframe for it.