FOSTER CITY, CALIF - April 11, 2005 - FaceTime
Communications today announced that its FaceTime IM and P2P
Activity ("IMPact") Center is expanding its scope to address the
over 400% rise of Instant Messaging and Peer-to-peer threats with
the introduction of the IMPact Index, IMPact Alerts and the online
IMPact Center. The IMPact Index will allow IT and security managers
to get an aggregated, point-in-time snapshot of the threat level
from IM and P2P borne malware and take action accordingly. The
FaceTime IMPact Index reports today's threat level at 3. The IMPact
Index is a single metric (number), ranging from 1 to 9, that
enables security and messaging professionals to quickly and easily
assess the risk level posed by viruses, worms and other malware
propagating through real-time communication channels like IM, P2P,
IRC, etc. An IMPact Index of 1 indicates that there are a few, low
risk threats in the environment whereas an IMPact Index of 9
indicates the presence of several high risk threats. When Index
levels are at or above 7, network security managers are advised to
take immediate action to protect their networks. The IMPact Index,
produced by FaceTime's IMPact Center with contributions from
strategic partners, is an automated and manual research effort
focused on emerging threats borne by IM and P2P networks. In
addition, FaceTime distributes the IMPact Alert, an e-mail
notification system which communicates details of IM and P2P borne
viruses and worms to subscribers. "All of the information on the
outbreaks of viruses, trojans and other security threats are a bit
overwhelming," said Kailash Ambwani, president and CEO of FaceTime
Communications. "The IMPact Index is a collection of inputs to help
network managers understand when there is a need to take immediate
action." The IMPact Center conducts research to identify emerging
threats and then offers rapid response through IMPact Alerts and
remediation strategies to counter these exploits. Key IMPact
research areas include:
- The propagation of viruses, trojans and worms over IM and P2P
networks
- Emerging strategies and tactics used by SPIMmers (spam over IM
networks)
- The tracking of IM and P2P clients, protocols, client
variations and application behavior
- Best practices for corporate and regulatory compliance of IM
and P2P
"With the most widely used IM network in business today, America
Online is pleased to support FaceTime's IMPact Index and its
research into emerging threats on instant messaging networks. AOL
is taking strong steps to control IM spam and malware propagated
over instant messaging networks," said Brian Curry, vice president,
AOL Premium and Subscription Services, America Online, Inc.
"Reuters Messaging (RM) is a leading, secure, financial market
instant messaging network. Reuters recognizes that its customers
need reliable capabilities to communicate proprietary information;
therefore we take pride in the levels of security and controls
applied to RM. We strongly support research initiatives like
FaceTime's IMPact Center that can help identify and remediate
emerging threats and risks potentially transmitted over
uncontrolled IM and P2P networks," said David Gurle, EVP Global
Head of Collaboration Services at Reuters. "IM and P2P represent
new propagation vectors for malware, IM spam, adware and spyware
today. We encourage FaceTime's IMPact research initiative focused
in the area of these new emerging threats," said Enrique Salem,
Senior Vice President, Security Products and Solutions for
Symantec. "IM and P2P have created significant and growing threats
for enterprises," said Michael Osterman of Osterman Research.
"FaceTime's leading security solutions for real-time
communications, coupled with their extensive research organization
to deliver the IMPact Index, IMPact Alert and IMPact Center are
significant steps forward in preventing the malicious threats that
can expose enterprises to enormous liability." FaceTime conducts
this research from its labs in Foster City, Calif. and Bangalore,
India, with a team of researchers in each location. To access
FaceTime's IMPact Index, please visit: www.facetime.com/impactcenter.
View
more partner support for FaceTime's Impact Index
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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