March 31, 2005

IM Users Go Private To Get Secure

A quarter of surveyed readers are using private enterprise instant messaging systems which are more secure than the pubic systems.

By John Dickinson

Messaging Pipeline

I don't get surprised easily anymore -- I've been around the technology business too long for that, but I have to admit to being surprised at the results of our most recent Messaging Pipeline Quick Poll. That's because just about a quarter of you (24%) have moved your instant messaging services to secure private enterprise systems -- and good for you!

IM has become the latest hole in the security dike surrounding corporate networks, and that's no surprise because while the public systems, including AOL's Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger, are popular and easy to use, they're as good as nothing when it comes to security of your networks. In fact they're not even that good because they have no way to protect you from worm attacks. the emerging new class of spam for instant messaging called "spim," and of course the phishing attacks that have "discovered" instant messaging.

Not that public IM systems are going away any time soon. As many of you (24%) use MSN Messenger as use private networks, 16% use AOL Instant Messenger, and 14% use Yahoo! Messenger, which makes for over half. Anecdotal information from IM security vendors and another poll we did here tells makes that only a few of you have secured those systems, and that's something that needs to change.

Some 22% of you have eliminated instant messaging altogether, and all I can say is that it's a short-term solution to the security problems presented by IM. That's because the productivity benefits of instant messaging and its attendant presence technology are clear, and more systems and applications are coming along that will make those technologies business imperatives.

Presence-based messaging, including instant messaging, is on the rise. But systems have to be secure in order for their benefits to be fully realized and the growing number of private systems shown by our survey addresses that problem. The cost of those solutions is apparently less of an objection than it was nearly a year ago when we did a similar survey.

That's a good thing, and one that will make the next year or two very interesting as various presence technologies and security systems that protect them emerge.


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