Techniques for Improved Virtual Instance Inspection Utilizing Disk Cloning

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for inspecting virtual instances in a cloud computing environment for cybersecurity threats, the set of instructions comprising:

• one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to:
• select a virtual instance in a cloud computing environment, wherein the virtual instance includes a disk having a disk descriptor with an address in a cloud storage system;
• generate an instruction to clone the disk of the virtual instance, the instruction when executed causes generation of a cloned disk descriptor, the cloned disk descriptor having a data field including the address of the disk of the virtual instance;
• inspect the cloned disk for a cybersecurity threat;
• and
• release the cloned disk in response to completing the inspection of the cloned disk.

A system for inspecting virtual instances in a cloud computing environment for cybersecurity threats comprising:

• a processing circuitry;
• and
• a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, configure the system to:
• select a virtual instance in a cloud computing environment, wherein the virtual instance includes a disk having a disk descriptor with an address in a cloud storage system;
• generate an instruction to clone the disk of the virtual instance, the instruction when executed causes generation of a cloned disk descriptor, the cloned disk descriptor having a data field including the address of the disk of the virtual instance;
• inspect the cloned disk for a cybersecurity threat;
• and
• release the cloned disk in response to completing the inspection of the cloned disk.