Employees Using Instant Messaging Put Companies at Risk
According to a recent survey by Akonix Systems Inc., a provider of Instant Messaging (IM) security solutions, employees are unknowingly putting companies at risk for major security, legal and compliance issues by using Instant Messaging (IM) as a medium to share corporate information and communicate with external parties including customers and suppliers.
The company said that nearly 60% of respondents to a July 2006 poll stated they use IM as an alternative to email for communicating and sharing data with colleagues, partners and customers.
The free consumer IM clients that are currently being adopted in organizations do not have the security or management technology in place to monitor what type of information is being shared, or with whom, warned Akonix.
In addition to troubling legal and compliance issues, unmanaged use of public IM leaves corporate IT networks vulnerable to attack from viruses and malware that would typically be blocked if sent through email.
"While IM can be a great communications resource and productivity enhancer, it is also a source of security and legal risks if not managed effectively in a business setting," said Peter Shaw, CEO at Akonix Systems.
"Since not only is it impractical to try to block IM use, but also because IM provides useful business-oriented advantages, it is clear that companies need to take action now to gain control of unmanaged and unsecured IM, with products like our dedicated, easy to manage L7 Enterprise A-Series appliances," said Shaw.
Akonix said that further research shows that employees who currently rely on email will continue to adopt IM as an alternative channel for corporate communication.
A semi-annual IM tracking survey by Osterman Research found that 35% of employees currently use IM in addition to email. This figure is expected to increase to 47% by the first quarter of 2007 and 72% by the end of that same year.
Reproduced from an article published by IT News Online
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