How important is IM? was RE: How important is the PSTN

Fri Jun 28 01:55:22 UTC 2002

Rizzo Frank <frank.rizzo at ghettocolo.com> wrote:
> By "IM" I assume you're referring to Instant Messaging as an ideal, not
> any particular protocol or vendor implementation.  Which begs the
> question, is "IM" is a risk

IM has been a risk since it was introduced as the Unix `talk`
program.  Responsible corporate security policy should at least
address it.  Many such policies, including some I wrote after this
post, have forbidden IM for some time now.

<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=_jfe4.1731%24T01.55862%40nuq-read.news.verio.net>

Whether blocking IM is a prudent strategy at your organization
depends on the value of the data "messaged", the IM application,
and routing of IM packets.  In common use IM does expose many
organizations to a non-trivial risk of corporate espionage.

-- 
Roger Marquis (ex-CSO)
Roble Systems Consulting
http://www.roble.com/