4/20/2005

By John K. Waters

Instant messaging, the sometime consumer-driven technology for sending and receiving text messages in real time, now rivals e-mail in its rate of adoption among business users. For some organizations, IM has become a cornerstone communications technology. Companies that once complained about the IM assault on the corporate networks now encourage their employees to use it to interact with customers, partners and suppliers. “I could give up my phone before my Blackberry,” a San Francisco exec told AppTrends....

The downside, says Nemertes analyst Melanie Turek, is that the federated model is more vulnerable. Federated IM increases malware risks, which are on the rise and growing more complex every day. Spam, viruses and phishing scams are all showing up on IM systems, and companies that open their networks to more users need more powerful and sophisticated security solutions.

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