Akonix Enhances Instant Messaging Security Gateway to Facilitate Corporate Risk Management

San Diego, CA – February 6, 2007 – Akonix Systems, Inc., provider of the most deployed instant messaging (IM) security and compliance products in the world, today introduced Akonix L7 Enterprise™ v6.0, a risk management platform designed to enforce corporate compliance, security and prevent liability issues associated with IM communications.

Employees have quickly learned to replace email with IM correspondence to get around corporate security. If left unmanaged, this scenario not only creates an opportunity for proprietary and confidential information to leave a company, but also exposes an organization to potential hostile workplace claims stemming from inappropriate IM use.

Adding to this pressure, recent changes to rules of legal discovery for electronic messaging require capabilities for storing and retrieving instant messages in anticipation of potential legal actions. Furthermore, as corporate adoption of IM continues, so do malicious attacks that use unprotected platforms to spread worms, malware and viruses on the network. The new version of Akonix L7 Enterprise ensures that all corporate IM-related compliance and security needs are met through continuous monitoring and real-time, automatic updates.

“With continued growth of enterprise instant messaging and changes to the broadly applicable US Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, organizations are recognizing the importance of managing and archiving IM communications for both compliance and corporate governance purposes,” said Mark Levitt, VP for Collaborative Computing at IDC. “Akonix continues to help its customers balance their security and productivity needs that relate to business IM use"

Akonix L7 Enterprise offers extended support for leading enterprise database platforms, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Oracle Database 10g and full support for Reuters Messaging 5.0. Along with its API level integrations with Microsoft Live Communications Server and Jabber XCP, the new version now integrates with IBM Sametime 7.5. This makes Akonix the only IM management provider with API-level integrations for the three leading enterprise instant messaging platforms.

To fulfill corporate security, archiving and compliance regulations, additional Akonix L7 Enterprise v6.0 features include:

- Centralized binary logging of IM conversations: enables compliance auditors to view message fonts and colors, and discover information hidden in the formatting
- Non-repudiation: ensures that IM conversation logs are not tampered with, from birth to archival, while using more secure and efficient database-native algorithms
- Disclaimer support for IBM Sametime: helps customers document their adherence to privacy policies and produce evidence of compliance during litigation or compliance audits
- Inline policy alerts for PIM systems: IM users receive policy alerts in the same IM window, providing a convenient way for compliance auditors to review policy alerts as part of the IM conversation
- Bloomberg mail import: captures and archives not only Bloomberg IMs but also Bloomberg emails
- Support for TLS/SSL-based connectivity between Akonix plug-in and EIM Systems: facilitates secure data transmission between an EIM server and Akonix L7 Enterprise via TLS-based connections

“With the amount of unmanaged IM use exploding in the workplace, corporations are faced with mounting issues associated with employee harassment, potential law suits, regulatory compliance and network attacks,” said Don Montgomery, VP of marketing at Akonix. “The new Akonix L7 Enterprise ensures that companies’ IM needs are met on all levels, while enabling the use of instant messaging as a tool to increase workplace productivity, not legal liability.”

Akonix L7 Enterprise v6.0 encompasses all security updates since v5.3, and is available immediately on Akonix’s A1000 and A6000 IM security appliances.

For more information on how 360° Security from Akonix protects networks against the security and compliance risks of unmanaged IM and P2P use, please visit www.akonix.com/360, call 619-615-9415 or email sales@akonix.com. Companies interested in putting Akonix products to work protecting their networks can receive a free 30-day evaluation of A6000 and A1000 IM security appliances at eval.akonix.com.

About Akonix
Akonix is the most deployed IM security product in the world, enabling Global 1000 companies to deploy productive, enterprise-wide IM that is secure, compliant and managed.

Worldwide over 1.9 million people across hundreds of organizations in the Financial Services, Telecommunications, Energy, Technology, Healthcare and Entertainment industries use Akonix products. With more than 20 patent applications, Akonix’s 360° Security provides the industry’s only automatically-updated protection to block viruses and malware for both enterprise and public IM systems. Akonix has certified partnerships with all leading IM and presence providers including America Online®, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Reuters, IBM, Jabber Inc., Parlano, Antepo, and Bloomberg.

An IM industry first, the Akonix IM Security Center (http://www.imsecuritycenter.com) provides real-time information about worms, viruses and other vulnerabilities that target IM and P2P networks. The company issues monthly and quarterly IM threat watch reports to track key trends and vulnerabilities.

For further information on the company, please visit http://www.akonix.com.

Contact Information

Noah Dye

Account Manager

LEWIS PR

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