US Patent 9069983 Method and apparatus for protecting sensitive information from disclosure through virtual machines files

A method and apparatus for protecting sensitive information from disclosure through virtual machine files is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes processing virtual machine files using at least one processor to access data objects in memory that are associated with at least one virtual machine, examining the data objects using the at least one processor in accordance with a data loss prevention policy in the memory to identify, using the at least one processor, sensitive information within at least one data object of the data objects and securing, using the at least one processor, the sensitive information within the virtual machine files in the memory.