Lynnfield, MA and San Diego, CA - Sophos, a global leader in
network security and Akonix Systems Inc., the premier provider of
solutions for security, control and integration of instant
messaging (IM), today announced a partnership that provides Akonix
customers with Sophos's best-of-breed protection against harmful,
internet-borne viruses, worms and malicious code attacks using
Sophos's anti-virus technology.
Akonix will now integrate Sophos's award-winning virus detection
engine capabilities onto its leading IM management gateway, Akonix
L7 Enterprise. This simple integrated solution will allow customers
to scan and block IM-borne worms, viruses, and other malware at the
gateway.
Instant messaging security threats come in many different forms
including viruses, worms, hoaxes, and adware. Each of these threats
range from harmless to extremely dangerous. The Akonix Security
Center estimates that there has been more than a 200% increase in
virus attacks transmitted through instant messaging systems in the
first six weeks of 2005 over the same period last year. Such
attacks target users of the major IM networks, such as AOL, ICQ,
MSN and Yahoo, as well as IRC and file sharing networks.
"We are excited to be able to provide our customers with the
added benefit of Sophos' virus protection as part of our
comprehensive security features for instant messaging use in the
enterprise," said Peter Shaw, CEO of Akonix Systems, "As IM becomes
more critical to business, both security threats and the costs of
attacks are increasing. This new capability further enhances
Akonix's award-winning products and multi-layered approach to IM
security."
Akonix provides a comprehensive solution for compliance, control
and security for instant messaging, including unified logging and
archiving, integration with leading security infrastructure and
unique real-time filtering for IM specific security threats.
Anti-virus is an important component of IM security, providing
gateway level scanning of IM.
"We are pleased to partner with Akonix to provide their
customers with a critical element of multi-layer defense. As
threats increase, become more malicious and spread via the IM
systems, reliable protection is a must. Sophos' first-class virus
protection combined with SophosLabs™, our global network of virus
and spam analysis centres, delivers that protection," said Steve
Munford, President Sophos, North America. Gateway anti-virus
provides an important layer of defense that complements desktop
scanning, client updates of security enhancements, and the
continued efforts of major IM networks to improve network
security.
About Akonix
Akonix is the leading provider of enterprise-class business
solutions for leveraging the power of multi-network enterprise
instant messaging. Akonix's award-winning products leverage
patent-pending core technology, an advanced IM application
development platform, and certified strategic partnerships to
deliver multi-network management, security, integration and
compliance capabilities across all major IM systems, including
America Online® AIM® and ICQ®, Microsoft® MSN, Yahoo!® Messenger,
Microsoft® Live Communications Server, Reuters Messaging, IBM/Lotus
SameTime and Jabber. More than 500 customers in Financial Services,
Telecommunications, Energy, Technology, Healthcare and
Entertainment depend on Akonix to manage, secure and enable IM for
over 700,000 enterprise users. Akonix is the preferred IM
management solution of some of the world's largest companies,
including Cingular Wireless, EMC and ING. For more information
visit the Akonix
website.
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.