Trend Micro antivirus to power Cisco routers

Ben Klayman

CHICAGO: Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of equipment that directs Internet traffic, said it would integrate Trend Micro Inc.'s technology to block computer viruses and worms with its software in a bid to make corporate networks more secure.

Under the multiyear deal, Cisco will incorporate Trend Micro virus and worm technologies with its intrusion detection system software used on its routers and switches, machines that direct the flow of data on the Internet.

With its core switch and router markets maturing, Cisco has turned in recent years to other markets, including security, Internet voice transmission and home networking, to boost its growth prospects.

"If the network can automatically take some action to make sure it stays up despite being under attack, that's a good thing in the world of networking," IDC senior analyst Abner Germanow said. "This is a really big move."

Corporations spend about $20 billion a year globally on networking devices, according to IDC. Installing virus- and worm-detection software on routers and other gear is designed to take the onus off individual personal computer users, the biggest culprits for unwittingly spreading malicious code.

"It shows that security is starting to penetrate the basic infrastructure," Meta Group research analyst Peter Firstbrook said. "Going forward, you'll have fewer and fewer dedicated security boxes."

The current practice of installing a firewall and virus-scanning software on a PC is effective in stopping some of, but not nearly all, the increasingly potent worms and viruses circulating on the Internet, security experts said. The new approach is to design routers that can automatically identify and stop malicious traffic in its tracks.

"Most of the key businesses and applications that people use are networked now ... and some of the recent viruses and worms have been extremely damaging to some of those network infrastructures," Richard Palmer, vice president of Cisco's security business unit, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The costs of virus and worm attacks can be high. Last month's Sasser worm outbreak cost U.S. and Western European Internet service providers $20.5 million in clean-up costs, estimated Canadian network security firm Sandvine Inc.

The length and financial terms of the Cisco-Trend Micro deal, which is an extension of a November 2003 agreement, were not disclosed.

Cisco said the deal is not exclusive and it remains free to work with other anti-virus software companies.

Pre-existing deals are not affected by the agreement, the companies said. Tokyo-based Trend Micro, the world's third-largest anti-virus software maker, has deals for different types of anti-virus technology with Juniper Networks Inc. and Checkpoint Systems Inc.

Trend Micro said in April, it would enter an alliance with another business group this year to fortify its business amid persistent speculation that Microsoft Corp. will eventually enter the anti-virus software market. Trend Micro officials confirmed that reference was to Cisco.

Trend Micro faces strong competition from Symantec Corp. and Network Associates Inc.

The first integration of Trend Micro's signatures into Cisco's gear will be in the third quarter. Cisco, based in San Jose, California, also licensed additional Trend Micro technology that will in subsequent phases extend its virus and worm outbreak prevention capabilities.

(Additional reporting by Bernhard Warner in London)

© Reuters