Actual network data from FaceTime Communications reveals that employee use of Web 2.0 applications such as instant messaging, IPTV, VOIP and social networking on corporate networks exceeds IT estimates by up to 10 times.
FaceTime also today announced version 2.0 of its Unified Security Gateway (USG), a secure Web gateway purpose-built for the new Internet to provide a single point of control for preventing malware, controlling Web 2.0 applications and managing information leakage in corporate networks.
The new USG gives IT managers capabilities to detect and apply powerful policies to an unprecedented 1 400 Web 2.0 and real-time applications in use by employees.
During fourth quarter 2008, FaceTime collected live traffic data from commercially deployed USG units at more than 80 mid to large enterprises worldwide, representing the daily Web-based activities of more than 100 000 corporate workers.
In parallel, FaceTime asked a large sample of IT managers how many Web 2.0 applications they believed were in use on their networks; one-third estimated the number at less than eight. In reality, FaceTime's actual network data shows an average of 49 Web 2.0 applications installed across all reporting locations.
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The reason for the high prevalence of Web 2.0 activity is clear. Throughout the four years of FaceTime's attitudinal survey ("The Collaborative Internet: Usage Trends, End-User Attitudes and IT Impact"), end-users have consistently said they have the right to download whatever applications they choose to help them do their jobs. Through its award-winning Unified Security Gateway 2.0, FaceTime offers enterprises visibility into these Web 2.0 and real-time applications, as well as the ability to control access to them without curbing employee productivity and collaboration.
USG2.0 offers more flexibility in creating and propagating polices across teams and departments; total visibility into Internet application traffic; robust malware detection and filtering and comprehensive URL filtering. Time of day policies and usage quotas can be set based on IT's discovery of employee application traffic patterns on the network to manage social networking and Web 2.0.
Other key findings from FaceTime:
Adware and malware remain a constant threat
Blocking adware and malware at the perimeter gateway remains critical.
* 95% of locations reported attempted Trojan infections; 65 distinct Trojans were identified and blocked across all locations.
* 73% reported attempted worm infections; nine distinct worms were identified and blocked across all locations.
* 98% reported attempted adware infiltration, with an average of 35 adware products per location. Larger organisations (2 500+ employees) suffered significantly more adware attempts than smaller organisations.
Average of 95 social networking sites in use; obscure sites just as dangerous as the well-known
Social networking was the biggest category. More than 400 unique social networking sites were in use overall, with an average of 95 sites per location. Facebook was the most used site by a large margin, with 50 000 instances of Facebook use on these networks. In contrast, the number 20 site on this list was accessed just 600 times across all reporting locations, creating a long-tail effect that can't be ignored when determining which sites to monitor and control for potential security and compliance issues.
"Even the most obscure social networking sites are as much of a threat to network security as the most popular sites," said Chris Boyd, director of malware research for FaceTime Communications. "By categorising, detecting and writing policy for Web-based applications, IT staff can rest assured they are taking every measure possible to protect the network's integrity."
FaceTime defines social networking as any application or Web site that links communities of people together through the ability to upload and share media such as photos, videos and bookmarks, blogs, or to message or link with friends, or to make new ones.
FaceTime analyses Web 2.0 applications and sites across 13 categories on its www.GreynetsGuide.com Web site.
Findings show corporate employees are widely connected
Additional data paints an interesting picture of Internet use in corporate America:
* Facebook: A total of 1 851 unique Facebook applications were detected across all reporting locations, with an average of 98 per location. Facebook Chat was found most often, followed by Super Wall, Top Friends, Causes, Slide Fun Space, We're Related, Viddler, SuperPoke!, The VideoJug Brain-o-Meter and (Lil) Green Patch.
* Instant messaging: AIM/ICQ and GoogleTalk were most prevalent, found in 100% and 98% of reporting locations, respectively; 68 unique applications were found across all locations, with an average of 12 per location.
* Meebo: Web-based instant messaging was found in 98% of reporting networks, with half of those being Meebo.
* IPTV: 34 distinct IPTV applications were found across 100% of reporting networks, with an average of 15 applications found per network.
* Virtual worlds: Of the 81 virtual worlds in use across these corporate networks, 75 are for children and teens. The top five are Meez, Weblo, Second Life, Neopets and Club Penguin. An average of 11 virtual worlds were found per network.
* VOIP: 26 VOIP applications were found, with Skype present in 100% of networks.
* Web conferencing: 26 distinct Web conferencing applications were found in 84% of reporting networks, with an average of five applications in each reporting network.
"Clearly, the complexity of today's Internet application traffic far exceeds what URL filtering alone can detect and control," said Kailash Ambwani, president and CEO for FaceTime Communications. "Today's businesses need more sophisticated application control to secure and manage how employees use the Internet."
Unified Security Gateway 2.0
USG integrates Web 2.0 application detection and control, gateway malware protection and Web filtering with FaceTime's best-in-class IM hygiene and archiving, in a purpose-built, hardened appliance. With this single point of control, more than 1 400 Web and real-time applications and many thousands of social networking applications can be tracked, monitored and controlled to give organisations complete visibility into all Internet communications, reduce total cost of ownership, and simplify administration.
With USG, IT administrators can set time of day or usage policies across all applications and view detailed reports to gain complete visibility into employees' use of the network - not only in terms of browsing but also specific Web 2.0 usage. This complete visibility and control provides IT with a distinct advantage in managing network resources in addition to securing against inbound malware and putting controls in place to prevent outbound data leakage.
At the core of the USG2's extensive application detection and filtering capability is FaceTime's recently announced Application Control Engine (ACE). Backed by FaceTime Security Labs' exclusive application analysis and categorisation, ACE automatically updates its database to stay current with new application detections.
Availability and pricing - no URL filtering fees
Unified Security Gateway will be available immediately from FaceTime Communications and its worldwide channel partners, with prices starting at $4 995. For more information, please visit http://www.FaceTime.com.
To help IT managers meet new budget demands, FaceTime also today launched its Forget the Fees programme (see related announcement), eliminating URL filtering fees for the duration of any new qualifying contract signed before 30 April 2009. More information is available at http://www.facetime.com/nofees.
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