TMCnet News
Akonix Security Center Publishes IM Threat Watch for December 2005; IM is Becoming the Vector of Choice for Virus Writers; Akonix Increases Security Updates by 2,800% over 2004SAN DIEGO --(Business Wire)-- Jan. 3, 2006 -- Akonix Systems, the premier provider of instant messaging (IM) security solutions, today announced its Security Center team revealed that December 2005 had the most new parent worms in any given month since tracking began in early 2000, a clear indication that more virus developers are choosing IM as the primary choice to propagate payloads. In addition, the Akonix Security Center in 2005 issued a total of 233 SPIM and malware filter updates, compared to only eight in 2004, an increase of approximately 2,800%. New viruses identified in December include Aimdes, Attech, Bandra, Dinoxi, Mesoto, MSNBancos, Retomo, Sunk and Yimper. The most common attack was the Kelvir worm, targeting two of the major public IM networks, which had twelve variants. Overall, there were 40 attacks against IM networks in December, a 36% decrease from the all time high of 62 recorded in November. December also saw a Christmas holiday greeting card worm propagating over IM and a password stealing Trojan that looked for certain bank transactions in Spanish speaking countries. Attacks on P2P networks, such as Kazaa and eDonkey, continued with 19 new attacks reported. The Akonix Security Center (www.imsecuritycenter.com) issued 16 SPIM and malware filter updates to automatically push the latest security information to customers and block worms and viruses at the network perimeter in real-time. "The 2,800% increase in SPIM and malware updates issued by the Akonix Security Center from 2004 to 2005 is a staggering figure, proving IM is a hugely popular medium for virus writers to launch their attacks," said Don Montgomery, vice president of marketing at Akonix Systems. "This is also backed up by December 2005 being the month with the most new parent worms ever. If organizations don't have IM security in place already, it must be top of CXOs' New Year's Resolutions. If these attacks continue at the rate they did in 2005, 2006 will treat very harshly any shortcoming in enterprise IM defenses." The Akonix Security Center is a collaborative effort between Akonix's internal security group, enterprise customer security teams and industry leading partners in IM infrastructure and security. It focuses on the emerging security threats posed by IM and P2P applications in the corporate environment. Detailed information about December 2005 IM threats can be found at www.imsecuritycenter.com. For more information on how Akonix solutions ensure networks are protected against the security risks of unmanaged IM and P2P use, please visit www.akonix.com, call 619-615-9415 or email [email protected]. 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. Nearly one million global users across hundreds of organizations in the Financial Services, Telecommunications, Energy, Technology, Healthcare and Entertainment industries use Akonix solutions. With more than a dozen patents pending, Akonix's award-winning products provide the industry's only automatically-updated protection to block real-time viruses for both enterprise and public IM systems. Akonix has certified partnerships with all leading IM and presence providers including America Online(R), Microsoft, Yahoo!, Reuters, IBM, Parlano and Bloomberg. An IM industry first, the Akonix Security Center (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 www.akonix.com. |
