A multiple inspection avoidance (MIA) technique is implemented in a virtualized environment. Preferably, the technique is implemented in a packet processing unit (PPU) and takes advantage of a protection scope determined in an automated manner. The protection scope may be MAC-based. The MIA technique ensures that the same packet is not inspected more than once by a same packet processing unit (PPU), and that the same packet is not inspected more than once by different PPUs. According to this disclosure, when a PPU implementing MIA receives a packet, it uses the protection scope to determine whether it needs to process the packet. Preferably, the determination of whether to process the packet depends on the source and destination addresses in the packet, whether those addresses are being protected by the PPU that receives the packet, the direction of the packet flow, and optionally one or more packet processing rules.