FOSTER CITY, CALIF - June 20, 2005 - FaceTime
Communications announced today that Crowe Chizek and Company LLC
has successfully deployed FaceTime Enterprise Edition™ to manage
the security and legal vulnerabilities posed by instant messaging
(IM) and peer-to-peer (P2P) applications. As one of the top 10
public accounting and consulting firms in the United States, Crowe
deals with a significant amount of sensitive client data. With over
2,400 employees in 19 different offices, ensuring confidentiality
of data communicated over IM is a serious security concern for the
company. Crowe employees use instant messaging (IM) as a
cost-effective and efficient way to casually communicate with both
colleagues and clients in real time. Since many of Crowe's
employees travel frequently, they also use IM as a means to
communicate with their families. Crowe's IT staff was challenged to
enable these applications while maintaining the high level of
network system security expected by their clients. "Using the
public IM networks without any control was like buying a deadbolt
lock and alarm system for the front door of the house, while
leaving the sliding glass door in the back unlocked," said Rex
Voorheis, Senior Manager of Network Infrastructure for Crowe. "The
ability to do file transfers, download games and play streaming
audio/video via instant messaging introduced new risks that we
found unacceptable. We also found that file sharing with IM and P2P
networks introduced the issue of copyright infringement, along with
the risk of virus infections and spyware." Crowe is using FaceTime
Enterprise Edition™ to provide comprehensive user policy
management, anti-virus scanning, spyware prevention, archiving for
compliance, controls to block unauthorized IM usage and P2P file
transfers, and for a complete, end-to-end security and compliance
solution. IM and P2P applications are part of a category of
networked applications that FaceTime calls 'greynets.' Greynets are
network enabled applications that are installed on an end user's
system without permission from IT and are frequently evasive at the
network level, using techniques like port agility and encryption to
avoid being detected and blocked. Greynets pose a myriad of network
and information security risks including potential vectors for
malware, client-side code vulnerabilities, intellectual property
loss, identity theft and more. While some greynets, especially IM,
have legitimate business uses, others are not so business-friendly.
Even legitimate greynet applications can pose grave network and
information security risks. FaceTime Enterprise Edition™ exceeded
the demands of the company's network support team in dealing with
the growing greynet threat. Not only could FaceTime detect and
block file transfers that transport harmful viruses and worms, it
also detects and provides visibility on unauthorized IM and P2P
users that previously went unnoticed by the organization. By doing
so, FaceTime protects the firm from the increased legal risks
associated with virus infections, copyright infringement and other
such violations. "Crowe Chizek is a customer-focused organization
with access to a great deal of sensitive client information," said
Kailash Ambwani, President and CEO, of FaceTime Communications. "As
such, it was essential for Crowe to ensure the integrity of
communications between colleagues and clients. With Enterprise
Edition deployed, Crowe can safely reap the cost savings and
improved client relationship benefits of real-time collaborative
communications, while maintaining the security and confidentiality
that their customers expect."
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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