IM usage in business – whether sanctioned or not - is growing rapidly. IM and other real-time communications are network-enabled applications that often operate outside the control of the corporate IT department. While they offer business value, these not-so-secure channels are increasingly becoming the vectors of propagation for malicious applications and code leaving IT to address how to enable business productivity from IM while also controlling risk.

IM security risk falls into three main categories:

Inbound threats
IM creates new vectors for the distribution of malware (viruses, worms, spyware, rootkits, and more) and SpIM (Spam over IM) which can cause a major drain on productivity and resources. Read about security incidents involving the use of chat, IM and P2P networks and learn more about malware and spyware prevention.
Outbound threats
IM opens new 'holes' through which information can leak or be leaked, leading to user privacy concerns and the potential loss of intellectual property
Non-compliance with corporate and regulatory requirements
IM creates invisible communications channels that operate below the radar of conventional information security measures, exposing the organization to regulatory compliance breaches. Read more about IM compliance and e-Discovery.

Technical Challenges of IM Security

Real-time communication and Web 2.0 applications are largely invisible to existing information security infrastructure such as firewalls, intrusion prevention and detection devices, and proxies because they are specifically designed to evade detection and provide ubiquitous access. Existing security measures do not adequately address the protocols and behaviors used by these applications.

Blocking IM is no longer an option:

IM clients use port crawling - the ability to exploit any open port on the firewall - so blocking the 'usual' port for the particular application doesn't work.
Every IM network provider has its own unique set of IP addresses to which clients can connect. These IP addresses change frequently or at random without notice, so firewalls and proxies cannot apply blocking policies using the typical black list of IP addresses.
IM protocols are proprietary and constantly evolving to deliver new and more advanced features to users; firewalls and proxies do not evolve at this pace, nor do IT organizations want to be constantly updating protocol signatures on the firewall.
The synchronous nature of real-time connections is much different from the asynchronous web browsing and email traffic; firewalls and proxies were not designed to inspect and analyze real-time communication traffic, so network performance suffers.

Beyond the technical considerations, blocking IM will also result in unhappy employees who will attempt to bypass controls, which may cause more problems than it solves.

The Leader in IM Security

Ranked #1 in IM market share by IDC for five consecutive years, FaceTime is the acknowledged leader in IM security and compliance management with more than five million seats under management, and an industry-spanning customer list that includes ten of the top ten US banks. FaceTime provides the de facto IM, UC and Web application security solutions that prevent malware and secure IM use, providing full visibility and granular control for all major real-time and Unified Communications applications:

Public IM Networks (AIM, Yahoo, MSN, GoogleTalk, Skype, and more than 200 other applications)
Unified Communications platforms (Microsoft OCS, Microsoft LCS, IBM Lotus Sametime, Antepo, Jabber, Parlano MindAlign)
Professional Community Networks (Bloomberg, Communicator Inc., Reuters, PivotSolutions, YellowJacket)
Web Conferencing (WebEx, Live Meeting)

FaceTime offers comprehensive IM security:

Protection against inbound threats from viruses, worms, spyware, SpIM, and more by monitoring and managing real-time communication, Unified Communications and Web application channels
Prevention information leakage through content filtering, logging and archiving for all text conversations and file attachment content
Ensuring compliance through TrueCompliance™ strict policy enforcement and user/group level access controls

By integrating seamlessly with existing IT and information security infrastructure such as Active Directory, storage systems and anti-virus, FaceTime also enables maximum return on your existing technology investments.

Learn more about Vantage, the de facto platform for granular security, policy controls and compliance features for real time and unified communications (UC) – providing management for the widest variety of UC and real time communications platforms; including Microsoft OCS and IBM Lotus Sametime, public instant messaging platforms such as Windows Live and Skype, web conferencing and industry focused networks like Reuters, Bloomberg and YellowJacket.

Learn more about Unified Security Gateway, the only Secure Web Gateway to combine content monitoring, management and security of Web 2.0 applications, such as social networks, instant messaging and Unified Communications, with URL filtering, anti-malware and Web anti-virus protection.