Waltham, MA, July 5, 2005 - The IMlogic Threat Center, the industry’s first global consortium to provide threat detection and protection for instant messaging (IM) and peer-to-peer (P2P) applications, today issued its Second Quarter 2005 report on the rise of IM security threats. The report demonstrates a sharp increase of over 2700 percent in new IM threats including viruses, worms, spam over IM (SPIM), malware and phishing attacks. During the second quarter of 2005, IMlogic issued more than 15 priority alerts to enterprises and IMlogic Threat Center subscribers in response to the increasing frequency of reported IM threats.

The report released today by the IMlogic Threat Center provides complete data, analysis and discussion of key trends for the second three months of 2005. Key data points released include:

A 2747 percent increase in reported incidents of new IM/P2P viruses, worms, and malicious code including SPIM/malware;

More than 541 unique IM/P2P threats including IM-specific attacks and “blended-threats” which target IM/P2P applications;

Eighty-six percent of reported incidents include IM virus or worm propagation; 13 percent are known to hijack IM file transfer capability; one percent of reported incidents utilize known client vulnerabilities;

Kelvir, Opanki, and Gabby worms reported as the top three most frequently detected IM infections in corporate environments;

Several new reported incidents of IM “phishing” and identity theft reported on the consumer IM networks.

More than 70 percent of externally reported incidents to the IMlogic Threat Center in Q2 2005 were attributed to enterprises and small businesses utilizing popular IM applications such as AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger. The report highlights the increase in targeted IM attacks on corporate environments and the need for both enterprises and small businesses to prepare and defend against emerging IM threats.

“The escalation of IM threats and the subsequent customer adoption of IMlogic’s security solution demonstrates the critical need for IM threat protection,” said Scott Petry, founder and senior vice president of products and engineering at Postini. “Our partnership with IMlogic will enable us to exchange our own real-time threat data with the IMlogic Threat Center, creating the world’s largest and most sophisticated electronic messaging threat monitoring system.”

IMlogic Threat Center Forecasts Continued Growth in IM-Borne Attacks and Releases Key Trends for 2005

Trend analysis provided in the IMlogic Threat Center Q2 2005 report suggests that IM-borne attacks will continue to increase as hackers capitalize on the growing popularity of IM in both consumer and corporate environments. The IMlogic Threat Center encourages consumers to protect themselves by keeping operating system patches and anti-virus software up to date, and to exercise caution when using embedded links or file transfer capabilities over the IM channel. Corporate IT departments can additionally leverage IM management technology and end-user policy enforcement to protect their networks from the risks associated with unmonitored and uncontrolled IM usage. Best practices are available for both enterprises and consumers online at http://www.imlogic.com/im_threat_center/index.asp.

The IMlogic Threat Center Q2 2005 report additionally discusses the following attack and vulnerability trends for IM/P2P:

IM worms mutate across network boundaries: In the Second Quarter 2005 there was an increase in the number of IM worms that simultaneously propagated across both public and private IM networks, infecting organizations with both standardized IM clients as well as heterogeneous IM usage.

IM worms undermine end user security through effective social engineering: IM threats utilize dangerous social engineering techniques to capitalize on successful infection vectors, using casual “chat” techniques, trusted “buddy lists” and end user vulnerabilities as targets.

IM worms infect transparently and are difficult to quarantine: IM worms infect organizations rapidly and transparently, spreading to a large percentage of vulnerable users in less than one hour. IM worms capitalize on real-time protocols which make detection, quarantine and response a challenge for corporate environments.

IM threats hit critical growth levels: The volume of reported incidents of IM and P2P threats has increased exponentially due to more targeted attacks by hackers and virus writers, and the inclusion of IM and P2P in blended Internet threats.

“The unprecedented increase in the number of threats and the emerging sophistication of IM attacks will continue to create disruption within IT organizations,” said IMlogic Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Products Jon Sakoda. “The IMlogic Threat Center will continue to identify trends and key threats as they evolve to ensure that the millions of consumer and enterprise IM users are protected from these emerging real-time attacks.”

Launched with the support of Internet security leaders Symantec, Sybari, and McAfee, and global instant messaging leaders America Online, Microsoft and Yahoo!, the IMlogic Threat Center is the comprehensive knowledge base for known IM and P2P vulnerabilities and provides rapid response and guidance for protection against newly detected threats.

The Q2 2005 IM Security Threat Report is available free of charge by visiting: http://www.imlogic.com/resources/id.asp?PID=WP

About IMlogic, Inc. IMlogic, Inc. is the market leader in enterprise software for instant messaging, the world’s fastest growing communications medium of all time. The largest Fortune 1000 companies across the financial services, energy, healthcare, government, media, telecommunications, technology, and manufacturing industries depend on IMlogic to manage, control and secure corporate IM usage, while satisfying compliance requirements associated with real-time electronic communications. For more information on IMlogic call 877-IMlogic or visit www.imlogic.com.