Deep Security release strategy and life cycle policy

Trend Micro provides two types of Deep Security releases:

  • Major releases: Released annually, major releases provide new features, bug fixes, and feature enhancements, and include long-term support.
  • Feature releases: Released between major releases, feature releases provide early access to new features. (For more information, see Deep Security feature releases.) Feature releases include shorter support periods. Feature release functionality is cumulative and is ultimately rolled into the next major release.

You might choose to obtain major releases because they are more compatible with longer adoption cycles, and you value sustainability over early adoption of new features. However, if new features are more critical to your immediate requirements, you can obtain feature releases before the next major release becomes available.

Additionally, you should understand the release life cycle and corresponding support that is provided for major releases:

Support milestones for major releases

The following table lists the life cycle milestones for major releases and indicates their timing relative to the initial availability of the release.

Life cycle milestone Timing (Global)
General Availability (GA) GA (Annually)
End of standard support (Only extended support is subsequently available.) GA + 3 years
End of life (End of extended support.) GA + 4 years

Trend Micro publishes a list of end-of-life products.

Major release support services

The following table indicates which support items are available during the life cycle of Deep Security major releases.

Support item Standard support Extended support
Small enhancements (no change to core functionality) ✔  
Linux kernel updates ✔ On request
General bug fixes ✔  
Critical bug fixes (system crash or hang, or loss of major functionality) ✔ ✔
Critical and high vulnerability fixes ✔ ✔
Medium and low vulnerability fixes ✔  
Anti-Malware pattern updates ✔ ✔
Intrusion prevention system, integrity monitoring, and log inspection rules updates ✔ ✔
Support for Agents and Deep Security Manager on new versions of supported operating systems ✔  

For a list of support items that are provided for feature releases, see Deep Security feature releases.