Offloading operations to a replicate virtual machine

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

• creating a snapshot of the first virtual machine;
• creating a second virtual machine;
• making the second virtual machine to be a replica of the first virtual machine, including transferring the snapshot of the first virtual machine to the second virtual machine as a disk image;
• running a scan operation on the snapshot of the first virtual machine using resources of the second virtual machine;
• and
• in response to detecting malicious code during the scan operation using the resources of the second virtual machine, taking action at the first virtual machine to address the detection of the malicious code.

A method for detecting malicious code within a first virtual machine comprising:

• making a second virtual machine to be a replica of the first virtual machine, including receiving a snapshot of a disk of the first virtual machine, the snapshot being received at the second virtual machine;
• utilizing resources of the second virtual machine to run a scan operation on the snapshot of the disk of the first virtual machine;
• and
• in response to detecting malicious code during the scan operation using the resources of the second virtual machine, sending instructions from the second virtual machine to take action to address the detection of the malicious code on the first virtual machine.