Trend Micro is Tuesday expected to announce antimalware software specifically designed for Windows-based protection in virtual-machine environments based on VMware’s ESX, ESXi and vSphere.Trend Micro Core Protection for VMware, slated to ship next month, will make use of VMware’s VMsafe application programming interfaces to scan VMs as well as integrate with VMware’s management console, vCenter.”The Core antimalware runs separately in the guest operating system,” says Harish Agastya, director of product management and marketing for Core. He said Core Protection for VMware is based on Trend’s existing antimalware but is designed as a “lightweight agent” to do real-time scans on VMware VMs.It can be managed through either vCenter directly; Trend’s OfficeScan management console; or via a stand-alone Core console. By integrating it with vCenter, “we know what VMware’s are out there,” Agastya says.Although Trend Micro is making use of cloud-based technologies in antimalware product offerings under the Smart Protection label, Agastya says that’s not planned as part of the Core Protection for VMware. Pricing for Core has not yet been set.Later in the fall Trend Micro expects to introduce a VMware-based security product for intrusion detection and prevention, based on the technology acquired with the acquisition of Third Brigade. Trend Micro is also exploring development of VM-specific antimalware for the Microsoft HyperV and Citix Xen environments.