1. A computer-implemented method of identifying vulnerabilities of a collection of software programs compiled into a virtual machine image, the method comprising the steps of: receiving an image file representing a computer system as a virtual machine, wherein the image file comprises at least one of operating system information, an application, an application server, application data, and configuration information; loading the image file into a computer memory; executing the loaded image file to implement the virtual machine on a processor; and analyzing the executing image file to obtain a listing of potential vulnerabilities.