On Message with Ben Gross

Security and other threats posed by IM are getting an increasing amount of attention, and competition between vendors is heating up.

A new report by Followap shows 60% of workers use IM, though 56% of businesses discourage it. Based on a survey of 102 workers, the report also found “that while 60% of office workers are IM users, only 28% of them use IM for business purposes. Employees cited instant response, convenience, informality and faster decision making as their top reasons for using IM at work. More advanced users highlighted features such as white board sharing, application sharing and cheap voice calls.”

Another vendor, Reconnex, reports that at a growing number of companies, IM is responsible for “leaking confidential information that is not being monitored, increasing companies’ risk of insiders exposing sensitive data.” Reconnex notes that IM clients are getting better at routing through firewalls, and the file attachments via IM are a problem.

Also this week, IMlogic announced its IMlogic Security Engine, which lets ISVs and service providers integrate its IM security offerings into existing e-mail and network security solutions.

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