Trend Micro
Encyclopedia
Trend Micro Inc. (Japanese
: トレンドマイクロ株式会社 Torendo Maikuro Kabushiki-Gaisha; Chinese
: 趨勢科技) is a computer security
company. It is headquartered in Tokyo
, Japan
and markets Trend Micro Internet Security
, Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security, OfficeScan, and other related security products and services. Eva Chen has been CEO for the company since 2005 succeeding Steve Chang, who is now Chairman.
by Steve Chang (張明正, Chang Ming-cheng), his wife, Jenny Chang, and her sister, Eva Chen (陳怡樺). Shortly after establishing the company, its founders moved headquarters to Taipei
.
In 1992, Trend Micro took over a Japanese software firm to form Trend Micro Devices and established headquarters in Japan. It then made an agreement with CPU maker Intel under which it produced an anti-virus product for local area networks (LANs) for sale under Intel’s name. Intel paid royalties to Trend for sales of LANDesk Virus Protect in the United States and Europe, while Trend paid royalties to Intel for sales in Asia. In 1993, Novell
began bundling the product with its network operating system. In 1996 the two companies agreed to a two-year continuation of the agreement in which Trend was allowed to globally market the ServerProtect product under its own brand alongside Intel's LANDesk brand.
There are also various versions for mobile devices, including Trend Micro Titanium Tablet Security for Android, Mobile Security Personal Edition, Smart Surfing for iPhone and SafeSync Mobile.
The company also offers a variety of free tools to diagnose and mitigate security issues including HouseCall
, CWShredder
, Smart Surfing for the iPhone, ThreatWatch App for iPhone, RUBotted, Rootkit Buster and HijackThis
.
project along with its acquisition of Third Brigade, and has promised to keep it open source and free.
s, such as data stealing malware. This combines in-the-cloud technologies with other client-based AV technologies to reduce dependency on conventional pattern file downloads on the endpoint. AVTest.org results from December 2009 testing show Trend Micro Office Scan ahead of the competition. Website administrators however report abusive behavior from the Trend Micro Network that is displaying malware
characteristics. Reported behavior indicates security risks for users of Trend Micro Internet Security
who access internet banking facilities.
for the latter's distribution of ClamAV as part of a security package. Trend Micro claims that Barracuda's use of ClamAV infringes on a software patent
for filtering viruses on an Internet gateway. The free software community
has responded in part by calling for a boycott
of Trend Micro. The boycott is backed by the Free Software Foundation
.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
: トレンドマイクロ株式会社 Torendo Maikuro Kabushiki-Gaisha; Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 趨勢科技) is a computer security
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
company. It is headquartered in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and markets Trend Micro Internet Security
Trend Micro Internet Security
Trend Micro Internet Security is an antivirus/Internet security program developed by Trend Micro...
, Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security, OfficeScan, and other related security products and services. Eva Chen has been CEO for the company since 2005 succeeding Steve Chang, who is now Chairman.
Foundation
The company was founded in 1988 in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
by Steve Chang (張明正, Chang Ming-cheng), his wife, Jenny Chang, and her sister, Eva Chen (陳怡樺). Shortly after establishing the company, its founders moved headquarters to Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
.
In 1992, Trend Micro took over a Japanese software firm to form Trend Micro Devices and established headquarters in Japan. It then made an agreement with CPU maker Intel under which it produced an anti-virus product for local area networks (LANs) for sale under Intel’s name. Intel paid royalties to Trend for sales of LANDesk Virus Protect in the United States and Europe, while Trend paid royalties to Intel for sales in Asia. In 1993, Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
began bundling the product with its network operating system. In 1996 the two companies agreed to a two-year continuation of the agreement in which Trend was allowed to globally market the ServerProtect product under its own brand alongside Intel's LANDesk brand.
Consumer products
The 2011-2012 range of products are Titanium Internet Security, Titanium Maximum Security and Titanium Security for Netbooks as well as Trend Micro SafeSync and Online Guardian.There are also various versions for mobile devices, including Trend Micro Titanium Tablet Security for Android, Mobile Security Personal Edition, Smart Surfing for iPhone and SafeSync Mobile.
The company also offers a variety of free tools to diagnose and mitigate security issues including HouseCall
HouseCall
HouseCall is a free web-based utility offered by Trend Micro, which scans for and cleans computers of viruses, Trojans, spyware, and other malware. HouseCall performs additional security checks to identify and fix vulnerabilities to prevent reinfection...
, CWShredder
CWShredder
CWShredder is a program that runs on Microsoft Windows for removing the CoolWebSearch family of spyware. Originally created by Merijn Bellekom, it was bought by InterMute on October 19, 2004 until June 2005 when InterMute itself was acquired by Trend Micro....
, Smart Surfing for the iPhone, ThreatWatch App for iPhone, RUBotted, Rootkit Buster and HijackThis
HijackThis
HijackThis is a freeware enumerating tool for Microsoft Windows originally created by Merijn Bellekom, and later sold to Trend Micro. The program is notable for targeting browser-hijacking methods, rather than relying on a database of known spyware. It scans a user's computer quickly, and displays...
.
Small business products
Trend Micro offers Worry-Free Business Security and InterScan Messaging Hosted Security for small businesses.Enterprise products
The 2010 Trend Micro Enterprise products include OfficeScan, InterScan Web Security, InterScan Messaging Security, and Deep Security. Trend Micro acquired the OSSECOSSEC
OSSEC is a free, open source host-based intrusion detection system . It performs log analysis, integrity checking, Windows registry monitoring, rootkit detection, time-based alerting and active response. It provides intrusion detection for most operating systems, including Linux, OpenBSD, FreeBSD,...
project along with its acquisition of Third Brigade, and has promised to keep it open source and free.
Technologies
In June 2008, Trend Micro introduced Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, a cloud-client content security infrastructure designed to protect customers from web threatWeb threat
A web threat is any threat that uses the internet to facilitate cybercrime. Web threats use multiple types of malware and fraud, all of which utilize HTTP or HTTPS protocols, but may also employ other protocols and components, such as links in email or IM, or malware attachments or on servers...
s, such as data stealing malware. This combines in-the-cloud technologies with other client-based AV technologies to reduce dependency on conventional pattern file downloads on the endpoint. AVTest.org results from December 2009 testing show Trend Micro Office Scan ahead of the competition. Website administrators however report abusive behavior from the Trend Micro Network that is displaying malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
characteristics. Reported behavior indicates security risks for users of Trend Micro Internet Security
Trend Micro Internet Security
Trend Micro Internet Security is an antivirus/Internet security program developed by Trend Micro...
who access internet banking facilities.
Mergers and acquisitions
- In May 2005: Trend Micro acquired InterMute Inc., a developer of anti-spyware products.
- In June 2005: Acquired Kelkea Inc; an IP filtering and reputation company.
- In February 2007: Acquired HijackThisHijackThisHijackThis is a freeware enumerating tool for Microsoft Windows originally created by Merijn Bellekom, and later sold to Trend Micro. The program is notable for targeting browser-hijacking methods, rather than relying on a database of known spyware. It scans a user's computer quickly, and displays...
, an antispyware program from Merijn - On October 25, 2007: Acquired Provilla, Inc; a provider of data loss prevention solutions.
- On February 25, 2008: Acquired Identum Ltd; a provider of ID-based cryptographyID-based cryptographyID-based encryption is an important primitive of ID-based cryptography. As such it is a type of public-key encryption in which the public key of a user is some unique information about the identity of the user...
(IBE) - On April 29, 2009: Acquired Third Brigade; a provider of intrusion detection and prevention (IDS/IPS) systems.
- On June 10, 2010: Acquired humyo; an online storage and data synchronization company, based in Leeds, UK
- On November 29, 2010: Acquired Mobile Armor; an innovative encryption specialist based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Patent Lawsuits
Trend Micro is suing Barracuda NetworksBarracuda Networks
Barracuda Networks, Inc. is a privately held company providing security, networking and storage solutions based on appliances and cloud services. The company’s security products include solutions for protection against email, web surfing, web hackers and instant messaging threats such as spam,...
for the latter's distribution of ClamAV as part of a security package. Trend Micro claims that Barracuda's use of ClamAV infringes on a software patent
Software patent
Software patent does not have a universally accepted definition. One definition suggested by the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure is that a software patent is a "patent on any performance of a computer realised by means of a computer program".In 2005, the European Patent Office...
for filtering viruses on an Internet gateway. The free software community
Free software community
The free-software community is an informal term that refers to the users and developers of free software as well as supporters of the free-software movement. The movement is sometimes referred to as the open-source software community or a subset thereof...
has responded in part by calling for a boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
of Trend Micro. The boycott is backed by the Free Software Foundation
Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded by Richard Stallman on 4 October 1985 to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software...
.