Viruses and spam won't halt IM use
Despite a growing number of IM-borne menaces such as viruses and unsolicited messages, businesses must not be put off rolling out the technology across the organisation, because the pros far outweigh the cons, says an IM gateway provider.
Kailash Ambwani, president and CEO of secure IM gateway provider FaceTime, denies his business will be hampered by a 'once bitten twice shy' aversion to IM based on companies' previous bad experiences with email. According to Ambwani, there are currently 115 viruses in the wild which exploit IM as part of a blended, or "multi-modal" attack. He added that IM spam, or 'spim', is a growing problem but insists neither threat undermines the potential of IM to streamline business processes and improve internal communication. Also, he argues, neither makes IM close to being as problematic as email.
Ambwani told silicon.com: "Of course there are security risks which come with IM, but so what? That is a fact of life. You just have to make sure that when you deploy a solution you do so with the right security in place."
"Email has been plagued with problems but nobody ever says they are going to turn off email," added Ambwani. "With IM as with email the business benefits far outweigh the risks."
