1. A system for distributed pattern discovery comprising: a node comprising a processor and memory to: receive a plurality of local frequent pattern trees from a plurality of sub-nodes, wherein the respective local frequent pattern trees are each based on a plurality of transactions; merge the local frequent pattern trees into a global pattern tree for the sub-nodes; send the global pattern tree to the sub-nodes, wherein one of the local frequent pattern trees is associated with a count of times a potential pattern occurs in the transactions associated with the one local frequent pattern tree, wherein the one local frequent pattern tree includes a partial pattern associated with one of the transactions, wherein the count is below a threshold level, wherein a second one of the local frequent pattern trees includes a second count of times the potential pattern occurs in the transactions associated with the second one local frequent pattern tree, wherein the second one local frequent pattern tree includes a second partial pattern associated with the potential pattern, wherein the second count is below the threshold level, and wherein the global pattern tree is used to perform a security function.