On Message with Ben Gross

FaceTime and Symantec recently released new reports on the state of IM security, and moved along with other vendors to emphasize the need for protection from IM threats. Given the popularity of email security appliances, both with IT managers and the investment community, it should be no surprise to see a posse of vendors offering similar packages for Instant Messaging services.

FaceTime’s report emphasizes the threats not just from IM, but from P2P networks and spyware. The company is also offering its RTGuardian appliance on a 30 day trial.

Symantec’s report notes that “While past attacks were designed to destroy data, today’s attacks are increasingly designed to silently steal data for profit without doing noticeable damage that would alert a user to its presence,” and covers a number of other threats such as phishing, worms, and viruses.

Akonix recently announced the launch of its A-Series IM security appliances, which are also available under a 30 day evaluation program. The Akonix appliances run (shades of IronPort’s AsynchOS), a hardened operating system (AkOS) custom developed by Akonix for real-time messaging environments.

While their focus isn’t exclusively on instant messaging, Code Green Networks this month announced an appliance designed to prevent outbound leakage of information over different channels including IM, and long time email security appliance vendor CipherTrust continues to push to its IronIM product line.

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