FOSTER CITY, Calif., April 6, 2004 - Furthering
its leadership as the premier provider of solutions that secure,
manage, and extend instant messaging (IM) and other forms of
real-time communications in the enterprise, FaceTime Communications
today warned of spim's ability to compromise network security as
well as the information security of both enterprises and users. The
recent "Osama Found" adware campaign and Bizex worm attack
demonstrated just how easily instant messaging users could be
manipulated to open their computers to intrusion. "Osama Found" was
new in that it leveraged IM buddy lists to propagate its message,
effectively rendering white-listing useless. Users clicked on the
link they received, believing they were messages sent by trusted
contacts. The Bizex worm delivered instant messages directing
recipients to a Web site that stole financial information found on
their computers. The company also emphasized that while spim occurs
less frequently than spam, spim's impact is far more detrimental to
user concentration and productivity. While email spam may slow
productivity over time, spim immediately interrupts user activity
each time it appears on the desktop, rendering it more disruptive
at lower volumes. FaceTime IM Director™ is the only solution that
controls these and other forms of spim through the combination of
sophisticated content filtering capabilities and a patent-pending
challenge-response mechanism. Both features work to intercept spim
before it reaches the desktop without compromising legitimate
messages or slowing down the sending and receiving of messages.
Organizations requiring additional features that ensure their IM
use is in compliance with SEC, NYSE, NASD, Sarbanes-Oxley Act,
HIPAA, FERC and other government regulations can purchase
IMAuditor™, which provides the same comprehensive spim blocking
capabilities. "Spim is clearly a public nuisance and much more
disruptive than email at lower volumes," said FaceTime President
and CEO Kailash Ambwani. "But worse are recent spim campaigns that
have exposed certain vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to
compromise network security and the information security of both
businesses and users. FaceTime allows customers to embrace the
business productivity and cost-saving benefits of IM by
intercepting spim before it reaches the desktop. And FaceTime is
committed to working with the public IM networks as part of the
collaborative effort that is required to halt the proliferation of
spim altogether."
About Actiance, Inc. (Formerly FaceTime Communications, Inc.)
FaceTime Communications became Actiance, Inc on January 11, 2011 following an agreement to
transfer the FaceTime trademark to Apple.
FaceTime Communications enables the safe and productive use of Unified Communications and Web 2.0,
including instant messaging, blogs and social networking. Ranked number one by IDC for five consecutive
years, FaceTime's award-winning solutions are used by more than 1,500 customers for the security,
management and compliance of real-time communications. FaceTime supports or has strategic partnerships
with all leading IM, unified communications providers and social networks including AOL, Google, Yahoo!,
Skype, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
FaceTime is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information visit
http://www.facetime.com or call 888-349-3223.
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