IM Security Appliances

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Someone just sent user Bobee518 a link that promises pics of American Idol judge Paula Abdul in a compromising position with a contestant. Who could resist? Not Bob. Unfortunately, the link was sent over IM, and it will bring Bob to the latest variant of the IM-borne Kelvir worm, which once forced Reuters to shut down its IM network.

Oh, and Bob is IMing from his desk.

Will your security systems stop Kelvir? What about malware embedded in an encrypted ZIP delivered over a public IM network? Can you even find out which employee corresponds to Bobee518? Unlikely. Which illustrates why we're strong proponents of private IM for internal communications, especially if the system can be integrated into a company's unified communications and VoIP infrastructure to allow for shared presence information between the IM and VoIP clients, as well as uniform login names and addresses. Private IM systems, like Antepo, IBM SameTime and Microsoft OCS (Office Communications Server), provide security, auditing and control features and are a growth industry, with $688 million in worldwide licensing fees likely by 2010, Gartner says, double last year's $334 million.