Analyst firm OstermanResearch has suggested that organisations are increasingly
worried about the potential security threat of instant messaging,
and how it could distribute viruses, worms and
spyware.
The research shows that instant messaging is now
concentrating the minds of IT departments as staff download a range
of consumer instant messaging clients for both personal and
business use, leaving IT with the headache of securing
them.
The
number of threats to date in 2005 is considerably higher than for
all of 2004, with instant messaging's greatest benefit – speed of
communications - also creating its greatest threat if allowed to
spread unmonitored throughout the enterprise.
The survey revealed that 52% oforganisations in the US are using IM for serious
business applications although 75% of companies surveyed had yet to
settle on an IM standard, with AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger
and Yahoo Messenger the most popular.
This may simply be a US trend, but does IM have a
place in the corporate world? It is fine for chatting teenagers,
but what is the relevance for companies? If e-mail is not getting
answered quickly enough, how will IM help? I hear the phone is
pretty good – unless you are one of those who must rely on a
voicemail barrier to prevent interruptions.