Press Release
FaceTime Provides Unprecedented Visibility into Greynets with New Public Resource for IT Managers
GreynetsGuide.com Catalogs More than 600 Applications Free RTDiscover Tool Provides Real-Time Visibility on Employee Usage
BELMONT, CALIF. - December 4, 2007 - FaceTime Communications, the
leading provider of solutions that control greynets and manage Unified
Communications in the enterprise, today announced it has launched
www.GreynetsGuide.com.
Greynets are Internet-enabled, communication
applications that are typically installed by end users without the sanction of
corporate network managers.
The Web-based guide aims to be a comprehensive reference center to help
enterprise network administrators better understand evasive and
consumer-oriented applications like public IM clients, P2P file-sharing,
anonymizers, IPTV and consumer VoIP that are increasingly being adopted by
employees.
GreynetsGuide.com details the source, behavior and effective removal tools for
more than 600 greynet applications of concern to IT managers. FaceTime Security
Labs' researchers are identifying and adding new greynets to the database
daily.
FaceTime is also offering a free tool called RTDiscover™ that will enable IT
managers to gain visibility into the greynet traffic that is traversing their
networks.
FaceTime RTDiscover, delivered on DVD, provides a comprehensive report of
greynet and Web traffic on the enterprise network at user, group and enterprise
levels. RTDiscover presents the user with a real-time view of all malware
threats including spyware, adware, keyloggers and rootkits currently resident
on PC endpoints throughout the organization.
"Our goal is to provide a comprehensive public resource that catalogs and
provides independent analysis of the greynet applications that have become
pervasive on enterprise networks," said Frank Cabri, vice president of
marketing and product management for FaceTime. "Just as SpywareGuide.com is the
definitive resource for identifying and controlling malware, GreynetsGuide.com
is designed to be the definitive resource for understanding and controlling
greynets in the enterprise."
What are Greynets?
Greynets are Internet-enabled communication applications that are installed on
an end user's system without permission from IT and are highly evasive to
existing security infrastructure. While many of these applications deliver
collaborative benefits to users, they pose a unique challenge to network
administrators by traversing the network through a variety of ports and evasive
techniques. If left unmanaged, greynet applications can impact productivity,
become vectors for malware attacks, and introduce compliance risks including
leakage of confidential information.
While some greynets such as Skype, public instant messaging (IM) and Web
Conferencing have legitimate business uses, IT requires visibility and control
to ensure their safe and productive use. With other greynets, such as P2P file
sharing, video streaming, and anonymizers, the risks might outweigh the
benefits and organizations need the ability to accurately detect and block
them.
"Enterprises face three key risks from unmanaged greynets: confidential or
proprietary information leaking out, malware and other infections entering the
network, and the legal ramifications due to insufficient archiving and
retrieval," Cabri explains.
Greynet Usage is on the Rise
According to the 2007 survey Greynets in the Enterprise: Third Annual Survey of
Trends, Attitudes and Impact, conducted by NewDiligence Research and
commissioned by FaceTime*, the number of greynet applications installed at a
typical work location has increased significantly in the past year. According
to the survey, the number of work locations with eight or more greynet
applications in use has almost tripled in the last three years.
"With so many greynet applications freely available online, the IT security
manager must examine the behavior of the company's own workers, and understand
the nature of these greynets before setting and enforcing security and
management policies," said Cabri. "GreynetsGuide.com provides a resource for
understanding the true nature of these stealthy applications, to aid in making
policy decisions about their use on the corporate network."
The costs of greynet usage can be very high. In the recent survey, IT managers
reported spending an average of nearly $289,000 annually to repair or re-image
company PCs after malware attacks that occurred over greynets. On average, IT
managers experience nearly 39 incidents per month that require some kind of
repair or remediation to end user PCs and each repair requires, on average,
about nine hours of work.
"We're providing enterprise IT with the information they need to manage the new
work environment where employees feel empowered to download the applications
they determine necessary to do their jobs," said Cabri. "Workers take these
applications for granted as a just another convenient way to do business, keep
up with friends and take a well-deserved break during work hours, but IT
understands that the potential costs are very real and very high."
Visit www.GreynetsGuide.com on the web for the most up to date information
about more than 600 greynets, and click here to request the free RTDiscover
tool.
About FaceTime Communications
FaceTime Communications enables the safe and productive use of instant
messaging, Web usage and Unified Communications platforms. Ranked number one by
IDC for four consecutive years, FaceTime's award-winning solutions are used by
more than 900 customers - including nine of the ten largest U.S. banks - for
security, management and compliance of real-time communications. FaceTime
supports or has strategic partnerships with all leading public and enterprise
IM network providers, including AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Skype, IBM and Jabber.
FaceTime is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information visit
http://www.facetime.com or call 888-349-FACE. The FaceForward blog, at
http://blog.facetime.com, offers thoughts and opinions about the changing
nature of Internet communications.
* The full report, "Greynets in the Enterprise: Third Annual Survey of Trends,
Attitudes and Impacts," is available from FaceTime Communications at www.facetime.com/greynetsurvey2007
PR Contact:
Joshua Barnes
A&R Edelman
650-762-2865
joshua.barnes@ar-edelman.com
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