DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced that it is joining forces with its long-standing channel partner NEC Corporation and NEC’s affiliate Netcracker Technology, the providers of software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) solutions, as well as business and operations support systems (BSS/OSS), to integrate NEC and Netcracker's management and orchestration capabilities with Trend Micro’s Virtual Network Function Suite. This will create an effective, high-performance and comprehensive virtualized network security solution that can be used in carrier-grade NFV deployments.

“As NFV continues to be recognized as next-generation network architecture, it brings not only opportunities, but also challenges, especially in how we design and plan security protections in dynamic NFV networks,” says Dr. Terence Liu, vice president of Network Threat Defense Technology Group at Trend Micro. “It is not enough to convert physical security function to a virtualized platform. An effective security virtual network function (VNF) needs to be natively crafted and optimized for NFV infrastructure, while also working closely with the rest of NFV components to provide the best elasticity and most efficient response. With Trend Micro’s security intelligence and the rich experience in managing carrier NFV networks from NEC and Netcracker, we will enable communications service providers (CSPs) to provide effective and agile security protections to businesses and individuals in the NFV era.”

“We are happy with our decision to team with Trend Micro, which will give our customers a broader choice of pre-integrated partners and enable them to seamlessly implement security capabilities for their virtualized infrastructure,” says Shigeru Okuya, general manager of the SDN/NFV Division at NEC Corporation. “Bringing together the power of Trend Micro and NEC/Netcracker’s SDN/NFV portfolio will provide a more robust network solution for CSPs and contribute to safe and secure networks for enterprises and consumers.”

“Virtualized and distributed NFV architectures require a ‘back to the drawing board’ approach on security. It is not sufficient to use paradigms used in legacy networks and apply them to the cloud-based and service chained networks of tomorrow. NEC/Netcracker is pleased to collaborate with Trend Micro to address this critical need for our customers,” says Rahul Chandra, vice president of NEC/Netcracker’s Worldwide SDN/NFV Business Development. “Through rigorous integration of their solutions with NEC/Netcracker’s market-leading network as a service (NaaS) solution, we are excited to offer service providers highly secure and pre-integrated orchestration capabilities that can serve as a foundational and secure platform for supporting their virtualized service portfolios going forward.”

Trend Micro’s Virtual Network Function Suite is designed to offer flexible, reliable and high-performance virtual network security functions for CSPs from premise, to edge, to the core network. At the foundation of the Virtual Network Function Suite is Trend Micro’s innovative deep packet inspection (DPI) technology, which provides various network security functions including intrusion prevention, URL filtering and application control. It has been widely adopted in a variety of network security products, from home routers to enterprise-facing next-generation firewalls and intrusion prevention systems.

By validating and integrating Trend Micro’s Virtual Network Function Suite with the NEC/Netcracker NaaS solution, the companies will be able to work together closely to create further technical and business synergies as more NFV migrations occur.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cyber security solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 5,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world’s most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables organizations to secure their journey to the cloud. For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company’s experience and global resources, NEC’s advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at www.nec.com.

The NEC Group globally provides “Solutions for Society” that promote the safety, security, efficiency and equality of society. Under the company’s corporate message of “Orchestrating a brighter world,” NEC aims to help solve a wide range of challenging issues and to create new social value for the changing world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.nec.com/en/global/about/solutionsforsociety/message.html.

NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. ©2016 NEC Corporation.

About Netcracker Technology

Netcracker Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, is a forward-looking software company, offering mission-critical solutions to service providers around the globe. Our comprehensive portfolio of software solutions and professional services enables large-scale digital transformations, unlocking the opportunities of the cloud, virtualization and the changing mobile ecosystem. With an unbroken service delivery track record of more than 20 years, our unique combination of technology, people and expertise helps companies transform their networks and enable better experiences for their customers.

For more information, visit www.netcracker.com.