Selective virtualization of resources is provided, where the resources may be intercepted and services or the resources may be intercepted and redirected. Virtualization logic monitors for a first plurality of requests that are initiated during processing of an object within the virtual machine. Each of the first plurality of requests, such as system calls for example, is associated with an activity to be performed in connection with one or more resources. The virtualization logic selectively virtualizes resources associated with a second plurality of requests that are initiated during the processing of the object within the virtual machine, where the second plurality of requests is lesser in number than the first plurality of requests.