Only a third of IT managers block access to music download sites, even though almost two-thirds perceive such Web sites to affect productivity and pose a possible security threat. IM applications were also marked out by 53 percent of IT managers as being a danger to the company, while social networking sites rated 48 percent and Web-based email clocked up 46 percent.
Computing.co.UK article
The IT manager at Vienna, Virginia-based C2 Technologies was frustrated. So many employees were downloading viruses that the company’s networks slowed to a crawl. One of the likely sources of the viruses was the company’s IM system. It was impossible to determine out who was IM’ing relatives in Thailand and who was IM’ing a client about a project. So the IT manager did what he figured was the next best thing: He brought the IM sytem down.
bMighty.com article by Naomi Grossman
The newest generation of employees connects with friends on Facebook and shares YouTube videos on lunch breaks or throughout the working day. Email is being supplemented with real-time conversations enabled through instant messaging (IM) and Web-based applications such as blogs, wikis and Webmail. However, as Web 2.0 created new opportunities for peer-to-peer and enterprise-to-customer interaction, it also opened doors for hackers to launch new and varied attacks.
SC Magazine
Presensoft Inc, a leading provider of security solutions for public IM communications, announced the launch of Presensoft Instant Response, a new product designed to aid in emergency alert notification, as a direct-to-desktop application. Presensoft Instant Response is the first and only emergency management system designed for IM, and includes a delay-free spam bypassing feature that ensures instant delivery of urgent notifications. Alerts can also be authenticated with Presensoft IM Caller ID to ensure that the right message is sent to the right user, at the right time.
Marketwire News
Akonix Systems, Inc warns that its IM Security Center researchers tracked 22 malicious code attacks over instant messaging (IM) networks. Although the number of monthly IM threats decreased from September, Akonix forecasts this is the calm before the storm as businesses implement unified communications platforms in 2008.
Instant Messaging Planet
Microsoft released its latest software update for Office 2004 for Mac. And Microsoft is to kill off MSN Messenger for Mac, replacing the IM software with a new product. The company plans to ditch its existing IM solution for Mac to develop and deliver a more advanced client.
PC Advisor News
After spending two years developing and improving it, Microsoft finally launched Windows Live, its official package of free desktop programs for email, IM, blogging and sharing photos.
News Headlines Story
Congress enacted the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) in 1994 to allow law enforcement the ability to intercept newer forms of digital technology, such as cell phones, and thus keep pace with criminals who use them.
There is no question that traditional phone service, like land lines, comes within the purview of CALEA (Pub. L. No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279). The question is does the act apply to a company like Skype, whose product is based on computers and Internet access without the use of a phone?
The purpose of CALEA and the nature of Skype, a software program that allows digital transfer of the human voice through the Internet, renders the law applicable to such software.
With the right software, the human voice can be converted into digital packets of data and sent through the Internet to connected computers. This development has led to the use of such services as: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), T-Mobile's Hotspot at Home service, as well as Skype.
CALEA recognizes that to remain an effective and efficient weapon against crime, terrorism law enforcement must have the capability to intercept, when appropriate and authorized, these newer means of digital communication. Yet the law does not represent a weakening of wiretap requirements, but merely a means to compel public communication providers to make their digital communication systems accessible to law enforcement when necessary to uncover criminal activity.
Over the past decade, with the Internet's explosion into almost everyone's life, more changes are expected on how people communicate, making implementation of CALEA imperative to reach its legislative goal. Thus under the act, phone companies must allow access by law enforcement to phone communications, whether land line or cell. CALEA's standards, therefore, apply to common carriers, facilities-based broadband Internet access providers and VoIP services.
More on the prospects of tapping Skype communications at Law.com
Allen Scott, general manager at communications developer NeuStar NGM, believes that mobile instant messaging (IM) is the way forward as it allows consumers to do so much more with their phones.
"Next-generation messaging will act as an easy-to-use communications tool and control point for users," he said.
"Mobile IM acts as a plug-in to other applications and services such as social networking, music sharing and dating.
"This is partly because of the awareness many users have of PC-based IM, and partly because of the viral nature of the service.
"But mostly it is because users already understand the benefits of messaging and recognise that mobile IM takes SMS to a new level with the added benefit of presence information."
Full Story on SMS declining revenues and the texting market at VNUNET.com
Qnective Inc. (OTCBB:QNTV), through its Qporter subsidiary, has launched a beta version of the Qporter messenger service in German speaking Europe, starting with a limited launch last month in Switzerland.
Qporter's software communication tool combines the benefits of instant messaging with "push to talk" capability as well as VoIP while enabling the exchange of multimedia files, voice clips, pictures and Giganticons. Qporter enables the user to communicate at home from a desktop computer and on the road via a cell phone. Unlike SMS and MMS, the Qporter service is free of charge and the software is available to download from the company's website (www.qporter.com). Sending messages, photos and videos is free among Qporter users. The only costs incurred are service provider connection and data transfer fees. For more information, please visit: www.qporter.com
Primenews Wire
You probably heard a lot about a new Internet phenomenon called Web 2.0 – an unfortunately misleading name not for a new version of the Web, but for an evolution in the way people use it as a highly dynamic, connected and interactive environment for distributing and sharing information. The use of these new online content technologies is significant, and it is growing rapidly. For example, over the next 12 months, use of IM or chat applications will grow by over 10 percent, corporate use of wikis and RSS / Atom feeds will double and corporate blogging will almost triple.
DestinationCRM article
The list of problems with the firewall bundled with Mac OS X Leopard operating system is growing.
Not only is Leopard's firewall deactivated upon installation it also trips up Skype and online gaming applications. Both German security news service Heise and security blogger Rich Mogull encountered the problem, the latest in a series each has discovered with the firewall.
The Register
Joost, the global TV distribution network backed by Skype cofounder Niklas Zennström, has signed up instant messaging web site meebo to provide IM functionality for Joost users.
Joost connects content owners with a global audience and claims to offer more than 15,000 shows across 250 channels. “Participation in community activities has emerged as one of the most significant trends in consumer behaviour,” said Mike Volpi, CEO of Joost. “By offering our viewers a robust channel chat option, they can chat with people interested in the same shows and subjects – and ultimately customise and enrich their entertainment experiences.”
Meebo claims that at internal survey of its users showed 25 percent of them using IM while watching TV. Seth Sternberg, CEO and co-founder of meebo, said: "there’s a lot more we can be doing to connect people who share a common passion around a specific show or genre.”
IT Wire for story
Symantec Corp announced it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Vontu, the leader in data loss prevention solutions, for $350 million, which will be paid in cash and assumed options. Vontu data monitoring and prevention solutions stop confidential data from being sent outside the organization through email, Web or instant messaging (IM).
eBiz news
How much leeway should IT managers give employees? In a debate-style Wall Street Journal Online interview with two CIOs, one kept using phrases like ‘controlled’ and ‘tightly managed’. So, is it a good idea to let employees use their own apps and devices, or experiment with new technology on company computers? No way, says Tom Tabor, CIO of Pittsburgh-based health insurer Highmark, Inc. “We do not allow access to any Web-based email, IM or Wi-Fi access. We do not see material impact to our employees by restricting access to these. Additionally, we do not allow noncorporate flash drives, cameras and other personal devices to be accessed via USB ports on PCs.”
Continue at bMighty.com blog story...
...and see full article at WSJ
Critical business information goes unsecured A high percentage of proprietary business communications are being handled nonchalantly through unsecured channels – such as Web email and personal instant messaging (IM) – raising serious concerns about the potential loss of intellectual property, according to new research released at the Microsoft Global Technology Summit in San Jose, Calif. The research discovered that 78 percent of business decision makers and 85 percent of technology decision makers reported they used at least one of a number of insecure public communications tools to collaborate with partners.
CIO Insights Story
Businesses have started to realize understanding risk isn’t just about working out what security vulnerabilities or weaknesses need to be shored up, but about finding a point of balance where performance is not compromised by too little or too heavy-handed a consideration of liabilities. Whether or not staff are using IM, or breaching email usage policies or bringing their iPod to work or leaking vital intellectual property – these are all issues that should have been addressed ahead of time by IT as well as HR, legal and line managers.
ZDNet-Asia News
Google Inc announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Postini, a global leader in on-demand communications security and compliance solutions serving more than 35,000 businesses and 10 million users worldwide. Postini’s services – which include message security, archiving, encryption and policy enforcement – can be used to protect a company’s email, instant messaging (IM) and other Web-based communications.
Business Wire News
Verdict (by Werner Ruotsalainen):
If you can live with the restrictions and/or you need the settable codepage support or the excellent, fine-tunable notification capabilities, you may want to give it a try. Otherwise, you may want to prefer other clients, particularly if you need for example Jabber / AIM support, auto-logging and conferencing capabilities, multiple logins or, as with Live Messenger, native file / voice clip transfer.
Full Review details and screen shots here. [Smartphone and PocketPC Mag]
Inlux Messenger Download [in Russian]
Have an iPhone, but wish you could IM your buddies? Now you can, with TinyBuddy IM. It is an AIM® Enabled web-based IM tool. It works by using the Web AIM API, OpenAuth and Dojo.
The nice thing about this solution: you do not send your AIM password to me -- you are redirected to AOL's OpenAuth servers for authentication. My JavaScript only sees an auth token. Furthermore, my web page has to get your explicit consent before accessing your buddy list data and before sending the first IM or presence change.
So the price of this added security is pop-up windows. A new window will be popped so you can authenticate with the OpenAuth servers, and also when giving consent to the application to access your buddy list and IM. For the consent prompts, you can choose "Grant Always" to avoid them on subsequent logins. I think the pop-ups are worth the added security, and at least in iPhone's Safari, window popping looks neat. Unfortunately, the OpenAuth Sign In and Consent pages are made for larger windows, so you will have to double-tap zoom to read them.
More by James Burke at http://tagneto.blogspot.com
One of the most frequent cause of rants about the iPhone seems about to be solved: Cerulean Studios are working on porting their Trillian Astra cross-protocol instant messenger to Macs and to the iPhone.
IM on the iPhone
Not only that, but they have also started a public alpha testing program. Yes, the application is growing rapidly, and yes, you might get lucky and get to use it soon.
Click on for a big, juicy shot and for some more details. [Coolest-gadgets.com]
Applications such as IM, Skype, and Web conferencing can deliver significant business value to business users. However, they can also introduce three main kinds of business risks: inbound threats, outbound leakage and regulatory and e-discovery non-compliance. The challenge is that many organizations have a mix of both public IM usage and enterprise IM usage.
Technology News
Business people can now find out whether they should be talking to their boss using instant messaging (IM), or when the best time is to phone customers, with the help of some 21st century etiquette lessons.
The Finishing Academy - which specializes in business and social etiquette - has produced the Business and Communications Etiquette Guide in association with Microsoft, which looks at getting the best out of communications at work.
More at Silicon.com
Gartner predicts that all enterprises will be using Instant Messenger (IM) by 2010, which should send alarm bells ringing as IM attacks have increased by more than 700 percent in the past year.
The analyst group predicts that penetration levels for enterprise-grade IM will rise from around 25 percent today to nearly 100 percent by the end of the decade.
ZDNet Asia
A recent monthly Instant Messaging Threat Watch by security firm Akonix tracked 20 malicious code attacks over IM networks during the month of May, bringing the 2007 total to 170 threats. The number of security threats associated with unmanaged instant messaging during work hours is steadily increasing. On average, at least one IM attack occurs per day.
Technology News
According to the latest industry report from Gartner, 95% of all corporate employees will be using instant messaging (IM) as a primary form of communication by the year 2013.
Sales of enterprise-class IM systems, on the other hand, will surge from the current $267 million in 2005 to more than $688 million in 2010.
Says David Mario Smith, an analyst at Gartner:
We saw IM start as a social phenomenon. Now it’s crept into the enterprise.
Understandably, the rise of the IM in the office is a development that has both CIOs and IT managers paying some serious attention to. Chief among the concerns, obviously, is the increased potential of viruses and malware infestations, as well as risk of serious security breaches.
More at Baseline Mag
ILoveIM.com is less sophisticated than many of the other web-based IM apps we've tested (see below). From its advertising-heavy home page to its limited features, ILoveIM.com lacks broad appeal.
ILoveIM lets you connect to AIM, Google Talk, MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger from its home page. You can sign on using your existing screen name and password, but you can't connect to more than one service at a time.
You'll also have to look past myriad text and flashing ads on the ILoveIM page to find the actual information it contains. Several pop-up ads craftily managed to elude my pop-up blocker - another black mark against ILoveIM.
More at PC Advisors.com
Parlano Inc announced MindAlign 2007, the most advanced persistent group-chat solution and the foundation of a growing number of organizations’ unified-communications strategies.
More on announcement on TMCnet
Voice Over IP (VOIP) software maker Skype rolled out a new beta release of Skype for Mac, version 2.6.
MacWorld News
People who use AIM or ICQ for instant messaging are vulnerable to a file-transfer path-traversal vulnerability that could be remotely exploited. Those who would rather not have someone out there dropping files on their systems over AIM or ICQ have different options available to them right now. An iDefense Labs report said that fixes to AIM’s infrastructure will mitigate the problem for AIM version 5.9 and earlier, although AIM’s parent AOL suggests people upgrade AIM to a current version.
More at SecurityProNews
The popular, multi-protocol instant messaging client Gaim has, due to legal pressure from AOL regarding the trademarked name AIM, changed its name to Pidgin. This marks the second time the developers have changed the project name to appease AOL.
More on Wired Blog
The adoption of instant messaging (IM) across corporate networks outside of the control of IT organizations creates many risks and liabilities for companies who do not effectively manage and support IM use. Companies implement specialized IM archiving and security products and services like those from Secure Computing, Akonix, Surfcontrol and ScanSafe to mitigate these risks and provide safe, secure, productive IM capabilities to their employees.
Live Spaces Article
PR News wire on EarthTimes:
Reuters Messaging 6.0 enables energy market professionals to gain real- time access to their market counterparts globally across front, middle and back offices, increasing the efficiency of pre-trade discussion, post-trade scheduling, transportation and logistics. It also allows energy traders to quickly post prices to Platts daily via Reuters Messaging, a key source of energy pricing data.
With the introduction of IM connectivity to Yahoo! Messenger, Reuters Messaging 6.0 offers the ability to send text based messages, view presence, and access conversation history between networks by signing into one service. In addition to connectivity to Yahoo! Messenger, Reuters Messaging 6.0 adds tools to graphically share market data and insight with market counterparts. Reuters Messaging is the first enterprise instant messaging service to connect to the three leading public instant messaging networks providing extended reach to the financial community.
3, Ireland’s mobile media network, today announced that its customers can now talk to their buddies using Microsoft’s Window’s Live Messenger service for free, for life.
Both 3Pay Monthly and 3Pay customers will be able to take text messaging to the next level and chat online in real-time with friends and family on their mobile or PC.
Using the same online ‘Messenger’ experience, 3 customers will be able to use their existing username and password to access their buddy list and then view and respond to messages instantly.
More at Irish Development News
People need time to collaborate, as well as an appropriate space and environment in which to collaborate. These needs are addressed by an array of collaboration software tools that come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from the humble peer-to-peer-based freeware for presence detection and instant messaging on the desktop, to enterprise-wide content-management solutions that deliver shared workspaces with end-to-end collaboration functionality.
Rest at CBR Online
Chat Watch SPEAR (Software to Protect, Enforce and Respond) Edition is a software tool to assist law enforcement agencies with investigations that concern instant messaging. Chat Watch SPEAR Edition organizes the details of the investigation and provides the ability to log instant message conversations. Chat Watch SPEAR Edition can have multiple investigators and investigations, supports logging today's most popular instant messaging services, and Chat Watch SPEAR Edition can create reports of the investigation in formats such as PDF and DOC.
Oak Hill, WV (PRWeb) April 5, 2007 -- Zemerick Software, Inc. proudly announces the release of Chat Watch SPEAR (Software to Protect, Enforce and Respond) Edition.
Chat Watch SPEAR Edition is specifically designed to assist law enforcement agencies in their crime investigations involving instant messaging. By providing a central location to organize the investigative details, actively log instant messages and create investigation reports, Chat Watch SPEAR Edition reduces the time necessary to conduct such investigations and ensures accurate records of instant messages.
Full announcement at eMedia Wire
Yahoo has patched a buffer overflow vulnerability in its instant-messaging tool that would have enabled attackers to potentially execute code on a compromised machine.
The flaw exists in an ActiveX control that is part of the Yahoo Messenger audio conference control. If exploited, a buffer overflow could cause a user to be involuntarily logged out of a chat or instant messaging session, the crash of an application such as Internet Explorer or the execution of code.
More from the ChannelInsider
I find this incredibly awesome and a great step towards multiple company technology collaborations. Being able to bridge existing IP phone technology with Google talk, and online office applications provides small businesses that much more incentive to look at alternatives to Microsoft's collaboration suite.
To hear some of the wilder speculation, it shouldn’t be more than a few more years before Google is providing most of the applications and communication services most people will ever want. They'll use Google Apps hosted document processing and spreadsheet services to do all their office tasks, and make all of their phone calls over the Internet via Google Talk. In short, Google will replace both Microsoft and AT&T. But while such a vision may border on fantasy, a plan Avaya announced last week could bring at least the telephony part a step closer to reality.
IP Office plus Google Apps could prove attractive to small and mid-sized businesses. [VoIP News]
Charging each subscriber a €2 per month service fee might seem like a strange next step for a free phone service, but the eBay-owned Skype has moved to bundle a number of what it describes as its 'favorite' add-on services into a new offering Skype Pro.
Skype Pro takes the company in something of a new direction as eBay seeks a way to recoup the massive investment it made in the predominantly free peer to peer voice application.
Earlier this year the company added a €0.039 cent connection fee on every call which already started to push the pricing advantage the company has over traditional non-P2P VoIP Service providers.
More details at this VoIP News site story.
Although Skype 3.0 was just released a few months ago, a new public beta version has already been made available. Skype 3.1 brings to the table, among other things, including a new business search feature.
SkypeFind is the main addition to 3.1, and Skype is calling it a feature that allows users to find and review local businesses. With this new addition, which is largely user-driven, Skype hopes it will be able to create a virtual yellow pages type of directory.
Check the Skype blog for additions details and screen shots.
The concept of organizations keeping a watchful eye on employees during company hours is nothing new. From the introduction of the time card 120 years ago, which required employees to clock in at the beginning and end of the work day, employee monitoring has evolved from simple confirmation that individuals are present and accounted for, to more detailed insight into employee activities taking place while "on the clock."
This evolution has been driven in part by today’s widespread use of email in the workplace, plus the increasing popularity of instant messaging, blogs and other online communication forums - all of which expose companies to new data security risks.
The boom in electronic communications, combined with business challenges - such as increased industry competition - and the introduction of data and privacy laws on both a national and state level, require organizations to take extra steps to reduce the risks associated with outbound email and to protect corporate assets in the process.
Continue with the birth of email, the risks, content security and the reality of the evolving communications landscape.
The top ten IT trends for global SMB markets were released by New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc, a consulting firm specializing in IT, Internet, telecom and business services market intelligence trends and strategy, with a strong focus on global small and medium business (SMB) enterprises. Unified communications: To unify or not to unify? AMI predicts that VoIP will begin a long transition from a market-driven attraction of all-in-one VoIP appliances that support voice / unified messaging / security / mobility with provisions for remote management and desktop / server collaboration application integration. Among SMBs, there will also be steady growth in enterprise messaging applications such as IBM / Lotus Sametime and Exchange Instant Messaging services as these companies realize the benefits and convenience of real-time communications.
[CRN India]
Micromethod Technologies launches SIPoint server that consists of SIP proxy, registrar, XCAP functions and SIMPLE presence engine. By using SIP Instant Messaging and Presence Leverage Extension (SIMPLE) technology and providing a core set of routing, presence and resource management functions, SIPoint server can be applied to wide array of real-time VoIP communication applications and services. Through open programming SIP Servlet API, any Web developer can easily extend and customize SIPoint Server to tightly integrate with business process and portal applications.
While Micromethod SIPoint server’s proxy function provides accurate routing of general SIP messages and presence information; the presence engine collects and updates user presence information (online / offline, busy and away) as well as user capability (Audio, Video, IM, Collaboration).
Emedia Wire
Jabber, Inc. today announced the results of load and scalability testing conducted in Sun Microsystems’ Benchmark Centers. The tests were performed on the Jabber Extensible Communications Platform (Jabber XCP) and began with a benchmark of 420,000 concurrent users on two Sun Fire T2000 servers. At the peak of scalability testing, the messaging platform was supporting in excess of one million concurrent users in a single Jabber XCP domain stretched across eight Sun Fire T2000 servers. Each additional server added the capability to support an incremental 150,000 concurrent users. Over the course of the trials, Jabber, Inc. reports that CPU utilization decreased significantly with each additional box, even with the additional users, suggesting that the efficiency of Jabber XCP increases with greater scale.
Business Wire News
Online chat has become more and more popular these days. With the many Instant Messaging (IM) software that we have today, chatting has become easier. Now how can we integrate that into our website? Chatting with our web visitors? Now that’s interesting. How can we make that work so that it’s convenient for us? Fortunately for us, there’s Plugoo.
Plugoo is a web2.0 embeddable flash online instant messaging widget. Plugoo allows you to have a direct chat from your Instant Messenger (IM) software (Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, GoogleTalk, Jabber or ICQ) with any visitor of your blog or personal website without having them install anything. All they have to do is use your Plugoo IM widget in your site.
Full article at World Tech Logic.com
We've reported (VoIP Planet) in the past on efforts to integrate cell phone service with instant messaging networks and the voice applications that ride on them, but Talkster is something different. Explaining why isn't necessarily simple.
...
One key element here is that enterprise workers are increasingly using instant messaging networks for business communication—these days, mostly public IM networks. While this is convenient and effective, public IM networks are problematic from a corporate IT perspective in that they are outside management's control and cannot be monitored for content—can't comply with either corporate policy or government mandate to log and archive communications.
It follows, then, that alternatives to public IM networks will be adopted in the enterprise—alternatives that can be managed or regulated.
Full article at VoIP Planet
Collective intelligence is an organization’s most precious asset. It’s what makes the difference between a successful enterprise, one that can pool its expertise to address common opportunities and threats, and a competitive also-ran.
Instant messaging is central to the business intelligence industry’s collaboration road map. For example, Hyperion has announced a product that will embed IM into an always-on desktop business intelligence interface, enabling more direct communications among decision makers in response to real-time feeds of key performance indicators.
Continue at ComputerWorld eBusiness Section
With instant messaging (IM) network attacks increasing, information security is expected to be one of the hottest careers in information technology in 2007. Because of the number of employees who use IM at work, companies will need qualified information security professionals to combat hacker threats and implement new federal rules on e-discovery. FindTheRightSchool.com, a one-stop, online education tool for campus-based and online degree programs, can help potential students compare and choose the right school.
Akonix Systems, Inc. announced last week that the predominant IM concerns for companies in 2007 will include risk management, compliance and e-discovery. During 2006, the Akonix IM Security Center identified 15 percent more threats than in 2005 for a total of 406 attacks on IM networks.
Continue at PRWEB
For functions from e-mail and instant messaging to mobile MySpace and ESPN, computer users are increasingly turning to the "fourth screen" — the one on their cellphones — which is evolving to adopt more characteristics of the three previous generations of screens: movie, television and computer.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/08/yourmoney/mobile.php
Skype isn’t known for playing well with others. It is a wonderful service that I use every day, but it is one hell of a walled garden. We’re still waiting for a proper Skype hack to come along that gives us access beyond the Skype client software. But today, Charlie Paglee is announcing that they have hacked the Skype interface, and are putting their own “Skype In” and “Skype Out” functionality. The hack adds a button into Skype that adds TalQer VOIP functionality. Highlight a Skype contact, then click the button to call him or her via the TalkQer Voip service.
[TechCrunch]
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