Trend Micro Inc. today introduced a line of data center appliances with preinstalled cybersecurity and artificial intelligence features.

Tokyo-based Trend Micro is a major cybersecurity provider with an installed base of more than 500,000 organizations. Its flagship Vision One platform can find malware across cloud instances, employee devices and other systems. The software automatically ranks the issues that it finds based on factors such as their business impact.

Trend Micro’s new appliances ship with Vision One included out of the box. According to the company, the integration reduces the complexity usually associated with installing cybersecurity software on a new server cluster. Trend Micro is also promising simplified support and procurement.

The systems are based on Dell Technologies Inc.’s PowerFlex data center appliance series. Each PowerFlex machine combines compute and storage modules in a pre-integrated chassis. That arrangement removes the need for customers to assemble the necessary components on their own.

PowerFlex appliances’ specifications vary significantly. The product series includes large, rack-scale systems that include not only compute and storage but also network equipment. Those systems are available alongside  smaller appliances, including so-called custom nodes that provide the ability to customize the attached network.

On the software side, Trend Micro says that its new appliance series ships with Nvidia Corp.’s Morpheus framework. The framework uses the chipmaker’s graphics cards to power cybersecurity-optimized AI models. Those models can detect malware and generate natural language breach summaries. Vision One, the cybersecurity platform that Trend Micro ships with the systems, relies on AI to power several of its features.

Morpheus also lends itself to certain other use cases. Notably, companies can use the framework to generate synthetic cybersecurity data for AI training projects. Synthetic data is information generated by an algorithm to facilitate neural network development.

Trend Micro envisions customers deploying its systems in a range of settings. The list includes cloud environments and air-gapped server clusters, or clusters that are isolated from the rest of a company’s network for cybersecurity reasons. The latter configuration is particularly popular in regulated industries.

To support companies that are building air-gapped environments, Trend Micro has partnered with Dell to provide an offering called Trend Vision One – Sovereign Private Cloud. Organizations that sign up will receive access to software, hardware, support and deployment services.

“We understand that IT teams are stretched thin,” said Trend Micro Chief Operating Officer Kevin Simzer. “That’s why our platform is designed to automate, streamline and unify security operations — whether in the cloud, on-premises, hybrid environments or even air-gapped systems.”

Image: Trend Micro