Spammers Target IM

This story appears in the November 2005 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

IM Spam, Spam IM
You have e-mail filters, e-mail spam control and e-mail archives. Now it's a good time to apply the same scrutiny to IM. A recent Radicati study shows that the majority of North American companies now use IM. But security and archiving is often overlooked. (The Radicati study covered usage, but didn't cover security and archiving.)

Viruses and worms spread over IM are increasing. A report by IMlogicshowed a 2,700 percent increase over the previous year in new IM threats including viruses, worms, spam, malware and phishing attacks in the second quarter of 2005. A variety of companies now offer security solutions for IM. They range from network appliances like AkonixSystem's L7 CM5000 to solutions like IMlogic's IM Manager. FaceTime Communicationsis another major player at this level. These programs can cost in the thousands, but they provide heavy-duty security, control and archiving features.

If those offerings are more than you need, check into basic protection from your anti-virus provider. Both McAfeeand Symantecinclude IM scanning in their anti-virus software. Zone Labsoffers IM Secure Pro software for $20. Whatever you go with, it's a good idea to keep a handle on your business IM.