Tuesday, 11 October 2005 17:09 EST

L7 Remote User Agent ensures IM use by mobile employees meets corporate compliance and security needs

San Diego, CA - October 11, 2005 - Akonix Systems, Inc., the premier provider of enterprise-class solutions for ensuring security and compliance for employee use of instant messaging (IM), has launched L7 Remote User Agent, providing the industry's first comprehensive IM security and logging capabilities for mobile workforces.

Currently, remote workers using public IM who are not connected to the corporate network are exposed and at risk of IM borne virus or malware attacks. In addition, their IM conversations are not logged or archived to comply with corporate and regulatory requirements. With Akonix L7 Remote User Agent, organizations are ensured that any employee working remotely will receive the same IM security and compliance protection as users connected to the corporate network.

In a July 2005 survey conducted by Quality Resource Associates, 89% of IT desktop managers felt that remote and mobile endpoints make it harder to remain compliant with IT, financial, regulatory or security policies. In addition, 50% of respondents stated that remote and mobile end-users actually ignore IT policies and regulatory compliance requests. Adding to these problems, laptop computer sales continue to rapidly grow. For example, Dell stated its laptop sales are growing at 30% a year.

The Akonix L7 Remote User Agent is the first product to address these increased security risks for remote users not connected to the corporate system, and consequently not protected by an enterprise network IM security product, such as L7 Enterprise. When deployed on an employee's laptop, the L7 Remote User Agent transparently monitors IM use and ensures all IM activity is secured and logged by Akonix L7 Enterprise, minimizing risks of attack or non-compliance through unsecured IM access.

"Remote working brings an entirely new challenge to the security industry, with today's enterprises struggling to ensure employees on and off the corporate network are safe and protected," said analyst Matthew Anderson at Radicati Group. "Currently, workers accessing a Wi-Fi connection at their local coffee shop do not have the same level of protection as internal staff onsite, leaving businesses open to potential vulnerabilities brought in from the outside. It's critical that businesses plug this hole with remote security fixes, such as Akonix's L7 Remote User Agent. This enables mobile workers to remain productive, while meeting compliance guidelines and protecting their system from attack."

IM for business communications is widely considered an official form of electronic communication and subject to the same corporate policies and regulatory requirements applicable to email. These regulations apply to both public and enterprise IM networks, and include mandates such as the SEC 17a-4, NASD 3010, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and Gramm Leach-Bliley. Failing to comply with these regulations is no longer met with an inconsequential slap on the wrist, but can result in significant financial and legal liabilities.

In addition, the Akonix Security Center has already tracked more than 200 separate IM attacks on public networks in 2005. The financial implication of being hit by a virus can be severe, with Reuters stating that virus outbreaks cost businesses $55 billion in 2003.

"Working closely with our customers and partners, Akonix ensures that enterprises have the tools required to enable safe, productive use of IM for business critical needs," said Francis Costello, chief technology officer at Akonix. "As the mobile workforce continues to grow, so do the security and compliance threats that laptops and other mobile devices bring to corporate networks. As the only provider to address IM security and compliance needs for remote workers, Akonix continues to lead the industry in unmatched IM security innovation."

Akonix L7 Remote User Agent will be available in November 2005. For further information, please visit www.akonix.com.

About Akonix
Akonix is the instant messaging (IM) security and management pioneer, enabling Global 1000 companies to deploy productive, enterprise-wide IM that is secure, compliant and managed.

Over one million global users across hundreds of organizations in the Financial Services, Telecommunications, Energy, Technology, Healthcare and Entertainment industries use Akonix solutions. Akonix's award-winning products provide the industry's only automatically-updated protection to block real-time viruses for both enterprise and public IM systems. Akonix has certified partnerships with all leading IM and presence providers including America Online(r), Microsoft, Yahoo!, Reuters, IBM, Parlano and Bloomberg.

An IM industry first, the Akonix Security Center (www.imsecuritycenter.com) provides real-time information about worms, viruses and other vulnerabilities that target IM and P2P networks. The company issues monthly and quarterly IM threat watch reports to track key trends and vulnerabilities.

For further information on the company, please visit www.akonix.com.