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News < Back Sarbanes Oxley : Technology : Instant Messaging Increase Of More Than 2,000 Percent Of IM and P2P Threats Incidents grow dramatically in number, frequency and sophistication
Additionally, the findings highlight the use of increasingly sophisticated techniques, including threats targeting multiple networks, IRC controlled botnets, and IM-borne rootkits as some of the more alarming trends of 2005. The data for the report titled, ?IMPact Report: Summary Analysis of IM & P2P Threats in 2005,? was derived from the Greynets Research Database maintained by FaceTime Security Labs, the threat research arm of FaceTime Communications. Key findings in the report include: IM and P2P threats increased more than twenty-fold from 2004 to 2005. The frequency of IM and P2P threats are accelerating with 778 incidents recorded in Q4 2005 compared with 59 in Q1 2005. Quarter-on-quarter increase in security incidents is occurring at a 90% growth rate (CAGR). In 2005, there was a dramatic change in hacker attacks across multiple networks, where in 2004 security incidents primarily spread via one network only. Individual viruses or security breaches are 19 times more likely to use two or more public networks in Q4 2005 compared with Q1 2005. The MSN network experienced the largest number of incidents in both 2004 and 2005. For 2005, 57% of IM incidents targeted MSN, 37% targeted AOL, and 6% targeted Yahoo!. Year-on-year growth rates were largest on the AOL network with a 1,300% increase of security incidents. P2P file-sharing vectors, while constituting only 7% of all incidents in 2005, grew at the aggressive pace of over 5,000% vs 2004. ?It is important for end users and IT managers to understand the business risks associated with the unprecedented growth of IM and P2P threats,? says Michael Osterman, founder of Osterman Research. ?FaceTime Security Labs provides a vital resource in ensuring that enterprises are well-informed and well-equipped to secure IM communications to increase user productivity and reduce the spread of IM-borne worms and spyware.? Operating in three research centers around the world, experts at FaceTime Security Labs monitor the frequency and severity of risks posed by viruses, worms, spyware and other malware propagating through applications such as IM and P2P, and publish the IMPact Index to allow security professionals to quickly and easily assess the aggregate ?point-in-time? risk from these threats. IM, P2P and spyware applications are part of a category of networked applications that FaceTime calls ?Greynets.? Greynets are network-enabled applications that are installed on an end user?s system without permission from IT and are highly evasive at the network level. Protecting Against the Growth of Greynet Threats The report underscores the need for organizations to adopt comprehensive security measures specifically designed to protect IM, P2P, IRC and other greynet applications. IM threats are extremely challenging for corporate IT staff because they utilize real-time communications channels and proven social engineering techniques over worldwide IM networks to propagate significantly faster than email-based attacks. Products that rely on signatures alone and require organizations to wait hours or even days for a new signature to be created, tested and distributed are virtually ineffective in defending against IM threats. FaceTime provides solutions that utilize patent-pending challenge/response technologies that are automatically activated when behavioral attributes such as message frequency, content matching, and URL identification meet defined thresholds - in addition to traditional signatures - to detect malicious activity and stop infections before they occur. ?IM and P2P threats have reached critical levels, but it is the sophistication of these attacks that is even more alarming,? said Kailash Ambwani, President and CEO of FaceTime Communications. ?As we move into a new year and anticipate greynet security incidents to increase in number and sophistication, FaceTime Security Labs will continue to be a crucial resource for providing our customers with information and automated updates to keep their businesses protected.? To find the most current and up-to-date threat information, or to request a copy of the report, visit FaceTime Security Labs at http://www.facetime.com/securitylabs/imp2pthreats.aspx Founded in 1998, FaceTime Communications is the leading provider of security solutions for the management and control of Greynet applications such as adware/spyware, instant messaging, P2P file sharing, web conferencing and instant voice. FaceTime Security Labs delivers the industry?s first IMPact Index, which assesses ?point-in-time? risks posed by viruses, worms and other malware propagating through Greynet applications. FaceTime's award-winning solutions are used by over 500 customers, among them seven of the eight largest U.S. financial institutions. FaceTime also has strategic partnerships with all leading public and private IM network providers, including AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, IBM, Bloomberg, Jabber and Reuters. For more information, visit www.facetime.com 
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