FOSTER CITY, CALIF - January 4, 2006 - FaceTime
Communications, the leading provider of solutions for securing
instant messaging (IM), peer-to-peer (P2P), and spyware, today
released a new report citing threats over IM and P2P networks
increased by more than twenty-fold -- representing a 2,200 percent
increase over 2004. Furthermore, incident frequency appears to be
accelerating with almost 800 incidents recorded in Q4 2005 alone.
Additionally, the findings highlight the use of increasingly
sophisticated techniques, including threats targeting multiple
networks, IRC controlled botnets, and IM-borne rootkits as some of
the more alarming trends of 2005. The data for the report titled,
"IMPact Report: Summary Analysis of IM & P2P Threats in 2005,"
was derived from the Greynets Research Database maintained by
FaceTime Security Labs, the threat research arm of FaceTime
Communications. Key findings in the report include:
- IM and P2P threats increased more than twenty-fold from 2004 to
2005.
- The frequency of IM and P2P threats are accelerating with 778
incidents recorded in Q4 2005 compared with 59 in Q1 2005.
- Quarter-on-quarter increase in security incidents is occurring
at a 90% growth rate (CAGR).
- In 2005, there was a dramatic change in hacker attacks across
multiple networks, where in 2004 security incidents primarily
spread via one network only. Individual viruses or security
breaches are 19 times more likely to use two or more public
networks in Q4 2005 compared with Q1 2005.
- The MSN network experienced the largest number of incidents in
both 2004 and 2005. For 2005, 57% of IM incidents targeted MSN, 37%
targeted AOL, and 6% targeted Yahoo!.
- Year-on-year growth rates were largest on the AOL network with
a 1,300% increase of security incidents.
- P2P file-sharing vectors, while constituting only 7% of all
incidents in 2005, grew at the aggressive pace of over 5,000% vs
2004.
"It is important for end users and IT managers to understand the
business risks associated with the unprecedented growth of IM and
P2P threats," says Michael Osterman, founder of Osterman Research.
"FaceTime Security Labs provides a vital resource in ensuring that
enterprises are well-informed and well-equipped to secure IM
communications to increase user productivity and reduce the spread
of IM-borne worms and spyware." Operating in three research centers
around the world, experts at FaceTime Security Labs monitor the
frequency and severity of risks posed by viruses, worms, spyware
and other malware propagating through applications such as IM and
P2P, and publish the IMPact Index to allow security professionals
to quickly and easily assess the aggregate "point-in-time" risk
from these threats. IM, P2P and spyware 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 highly evasive
at the network level. Protecting Against the Growth of
Greynet Threats
The report underscores the need for organizations to adopt
comprehensive security measures specifically designed to protect
IM, P2P, IRC and other greynet applications. IM threats are
extremely challenging for corporate IT staff because they utilize
real-time communications channels and proven social engineering
techniques over worldwide IM networks to propagate significantly
faster than email-based attacks. Products that rely on signatures
alone and require organizations to wait hours or even days for a
new signature to be created, tested and distributed are virtually
ineffective in defending against IM threats. FaceTime provides
solutions that utilize patent-pending challenge/response
technologies that are automatically activated when behavioral
attributes such as message frequency, content matching, and URL
identification meet defined thresholds - in addition to traditional
signatures - to detect malicious activity and stop infections
before they occur. "IM and P2P threats have reached critical
levels, but it is the sophistication of these attacks that is even
more alarming," said Kailash Ambwani, President and CEO of FaceTime
Communications. "As we move into a new year and anticipate greynet
security incidents to increase in number and sophistication,
FaceTime Security Labs will continue to be a crucial resource for
providing our customers with information and automated updates to
keep their businesses protected." To find the most current and
up-to-date threat information, or to request a copy of the report,
visit FaceTime Security Labs at http://www.facetime.com/securitylabs/imp2pthreats.aspx.
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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