Instant Messaging is growing in popularity all over the world. The ability to communicate instantly, sitting in front of the computer at work together with the benefit of knowing who is online has made Instant Messaging a favorite communication tool together with mobile phones and e-mail. Normally, companies have no internal IM system why employees use external systems such as AIM/ICQ, Yahoo and MSN, unaware of the security threats this imposes.
From a security perspective this creates several problems, for example if employees start discussing internal issues using public servers or if discussions with customers and partners are done on servers beyond corporate control.
In addition, there is no control that the other users are who they claim to be; all control is left to the administrators of the external IM system. User authentication is very weak and there is no guarantee that all participants are wanted in the discussions. Network traffic is normally not encrypted, and all data sent to the IM server can be stored for future reference without the users being aware of it.
“Another threat now becoming apparent is that viruses, spam and incorrect information is being spread using these forums”, says Mr. Tomas Olovsson, CTO of AppGate Network Security. He continues: “Attacks against the client software (similar to web client attacks) are becoming more of a problem, and the best way to address these problems is to setup a corporate solution for secure instant messaging."
AppGate can now provide a secure Instant Messaging system that works in close cooperation with the AppGate Security Server. User identity is controlled in the AppGate Security Server and almost all authentication methods on the market today are supported to guarantee user identity. The secure Instant Messaging system will receive the users’ IDs from the AppGate server (single sign-on) which makes it extremely easy for the users to use. It also prevents users from using aliases and faked identities in the system. All communication over the network is encrypted. This is especially important if the system should be used both by local and remote users. It is also possible to share files inside the IM system for fast and secure documentation exchange.
Access to the IM system can be granted to all or to selected users in the account database. Since the IM system is administered through the AppGate Security Server, the additional work to administer the IM system is virtually none.
The AppGate solution is based on the well known Jabber IM protocol (www.jabber.org) and the protocols being used are open, public and easy to understand.
The AppGate Instant Messaging system will be released in November 2004.
AppGate Network Security specializes in providing extremely secure network solutions such as SSH/SSL VPNs, personal firewalls and application protection systems.
AppGate Network Security ties together all the pieces of security technology in one easy-to-use system. AppGate solutions work in both fixed and wireless network environments, with the broad range of client systems and scales from small user systems up to enterprise level customers, supporting thousands of users.
That is why AppGate Network Security has some of the largest and most prestigious corporations in the world as customers.
Göran Marby, CEO AppGate Network Security AB
+46 730-66 77 20
goran.marby@appgate.com
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