FaceTime Communications Monday announced a new product designed to let IT managers secure and manage both Web and real-time applications with a single set of policies.
FaceTime Internet Security Edition adds Web filtering to FaceTime's existing technology for securing what it calls greynets -- real-time communication applications such as instant messaging, peer-to-peer file sharing, and Skype that employees often install without the IT department's knowledge or consent.
The vendor's new Internet Security Edition appliance lets companies create one set of policies to secure and manage greynets while also preventing inbound threats from the Web and controlling employee Internet use, says Frank Cabri, vice president of marketing with FaceTime. The company has licensed Secure Computing's SmartFilter, which blocks malware at the Internet gateway before it hits the corporate network, Cabri says.
By combining these functions, IT managers can lower the cost of managing and securing real-time communications while cutting down on administration, he says.
According to a recent study by FaceTime of end users and IT managers, eight out of 10 employees are using greynet applications at work. And eight out of 10 IT managers in organizations where greynet applications are used have experienced attacks related to the use of those applications in the last six months, according to the study.
FaceTime estimates greynet-related incidents that require an employee's PC to be repaired cost an average of US$10,000 per month.
FaceTime Internet Security Edition is available as an appliance, priced starting at US$7,125. Other vendors that offer security and management products for real-time communication applications include Symantec and Akonix.