Trend Micro Launches Cloud Protection With Server Security Offering
The Tokyo-based company is releasing Trend Micro Deep Security 7.0, a new version of the product that is part of its advanced server security effort, intended to protect all aspects of the server, including the operating system, network and application layers on physical as well as virtualized platforms.
"This year we are really moving into the cloud with protection for the cloud," said Eva Chen, Trend Micro CEO, in a Channelweb.com interview. "That's a very complicated problem."
The latest version, however, is distinguished by its ability to coordinate a virtual layer of security that is applied at the hypervisor layer with additional protection on virtual machines for VMware environments.
The new Deep Security product, available in November, aims to address data breaches and malicious security threats by providing an additional layer of security on any physical, virtualized or cloud-based server. It is targeted at discovering SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks, as well as other threats amid the millions of new pieces of malware detected per year, Trend Micro executives say.
Those security threats are mitigated with the inclusion of Deep Security 7.0's deep packet inspection engine, which features intrusion detection, Web application protection and network level application control, incorporating firewall, integrity monitoring and log inspection modules for both physical and virtual systems.
Chen added that the new product addresses misconceptions that data stored in the cloud is inherently safer then on a physical machine.
"CEOs and CIOs do know [the cloud is not secure] and they are very concerned, and that's what is preventing them from going to the cloud," she said.
The server protection service also aims to help organizations adhere to compliance regulations such as PCI, SAS 70, FISMA and HIPAA with log management and reporting capabilities, as well as increase cost savings with a lightweight scan and reduced bandwidth. It comes equipped with features such as event tagging and the ability to create a "reference system" to reduce false positive alerts.
The server security product comes as more users might be considering virtualization in an effort to cut costs and reduce energy expenditure as budgets tighten in the weak economy, Trend Micro executives say. Meanwhile, Microsoft's recent Windows 7 launch might open up the floodgates for a host of SMB users who will also transition to a virtualized environment as they upgrade to Microsoft's new operating system.
Enterprises will start to build their own private cloud, then smaller market segments will, over time, likely migrate toward the public cloud, Trend Micro executives say.
"SMBs know that their infrastructure is not great anyway, and their requirements are lower," Chen said. "This small business group will be the first to move to the public cloud."
Chen said that the new server security service provides an answer to current security challenges, including the disintegration of the perimeter, which has opened up copious threat vectors and created myriad new security issues for organizations.
"Now, with virtualization, the server will move from one network center to another network center in seconds. You can provision a new server in seconds," Chen said. "Therefore, every time you do this, you need to add a new firewall rule. It's so complicated that nobody wants to touch it anymore. But we need to. That's why the perimeter protection is a big operational challenge."
Executives say that the new Deep Security product will lend itself to a strong channel play, particularly in the SMB and lower markets, as smaller businesses lacking IT staff adopt a virtualized environment and attempt to secure data stored in the cloud. Partners can take Trend Micro's Deep Security 7.0 and then provide their own management and monitoring services, or wrap additional consulting and threat mediation services around the product.
The product features two pricing models: $825 per server for traditional physical server environments, and a virtual server license for VMware environments with unlimited agents per host machines starting at $2,100 per socket.