Symantec Addresses IM Security, Compliance

Symantec released Monday a new version of its IM Manager designed to shore up vulnerabilities in instant messaging networks and address compliance issues.

Security vulnerabilities in IM networks are causing companies to limit or prohibit use of IM, and certain verticals are required to log all IM conversations for compliance reasons, said Jon Sakoda, senior director of product management for enterprise messaging at Symantec, Cupertino, Calif.

Symantec's IM Manager 8.0 addresses these issues with management and reporting features that allow companies to continue to benefit from realtime communications.

"IM has fallen underneath the radar when it comes to enterprise security, and the challenge is to bring it up to the corporate level," said Sakoda.

IM Manager 8.0 provides security on both ends of IM conversations, blocking viruses and other malware from entering the corporate network, and preventing employees from sending confidential information outside the network, Sakoda said.Support for GoogleTalk, the search giant's voice messaging application, is one of the new features in the 8.0 release. Administrators can limit or block the voice feature of GoogleTalk and other IM clients that support voice, Sakoda said. IM Manager 8.0 can also block application sharing and audio and video features in these applications, he added.

Doug Landoll, general manager of security services at En Pointe Technologies, an Austin-based solution provider, said IM Manager 8.0 allows companies to mitigate the dangers of unsecured IM usage. "Instant messages are considered business communications, and these types of products address the difficulty of handling compliance-based reporting," Landoll said.

The rising incidence of zero day attacks on IM networks led Symantec to include a quarantine feature in IM Manager 8.0. When the application detects anomalies in IM traffic, administrators can quarantine traffic as a way of protecting their network until the virus signature is released, said Sakoda.

"IM worms can spread quickly because the transmission is realtime and traverses the network faster. You want to reduce the time the worm has to propagate," said Sakoda.

Symantec IM Manager 8.0 is available now and priced at $40 per user on one-year, two-year and three-year contracts, which include content updates, support and maintenance.0