Getting started with Instant Messaging (IM)

Instant Messaging use in the enterprise has exploded and is now seen as a valuable business communications tool. Across companies of all sizes, the benefits of real-time communications and presence awareness are changing the way people communicate with colleagues, customers and partners.

Before implementing a secure enterprise IM system, is it useful to take stock of where your company is currently at, in terms of IM adoption:

Evaluate Current IM Use

Few companies have a clear picture of how IM is being used inside their organisation. A detailed picture of IM usage is required in order to develop a deeper understanding of the value that IM is bringing to the end-user community. An IM usage audit will uncover who is using IM, what they are using it for and which IM clients are being utilised.

Identify IM Threats

Once the IM risk profile is developed, you should evaluate the most pressing threats based on the established profile. IM threats generally affect an organisation in the form of viruses, trojans and malware that attack and compromise user desktops and corporate networks as a whole. You can then turn your attention to the challenge of enforcing use policies that mitigate the broad spectrum of risk, including regulatory compliance, corporate governance and IP loss.

Establish an Effective IM Usage Policy

The problem is that most employees see IM as an extension of email, and therefore assume it is acceptable and safe to use. Yet this depends on how much control your organisation has over the IM application being used by your staff, and whether you have set down any formal policies and protection.

As highlighted previously, unprotected IM can allow viruses, trojans and other malware to infiltrate company networks much more readily than email attachments.

The bottom line is, if you already have policies in place for acceptable email use, & archiving etc, then you will need to extend those same policies to include IM use.

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