Akonix Systems, provider of Instant Messaging (IM) security and compliance products, recently published its top five predictions for enterprise IM in 2007.

Akonix predicts the predominant IM concern for companies in 2007 will be a higher level of risk management, encompassing security, compliance, e-discovery and corporate liability for electronic communications.

Investment in archiving technologies for IM will soar in 2007. In addition to previous regulatory actions, changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that became effective on December 1, 2006 require capabilities for storing and retrieving IM conversations that are deemed relevant to legal actions.

Akonix predicts that corporate legal departments and boards of directors will instruct IT departments to ensure compliance with the many regulations governing electronic communications to avoid significant liabilities.

Secondly, spyware, worms, viruses and other malicious attacks will continue to exploit the unprotected IM vector to propagate and wreak havoc within corporate networks. Attacks through IM will be more sophisticated (e.g. multi-stage worms, Trojans and spyware) and more criminal (e.g. keyloggers for access to online banking).

In addition to the above, 2007 will see a dramatic increase in legal actions against employers for hostile workplace and sexual harassment claims stemming from inappropriate use of IM at work. Dubbed the ‘Foley Syndrome’ after former Congressman Mark Foley’s infamous indiscretions over IM, the harassment of colleagues over IM will likely become front-page news during 2007. A recent Akonix survey showed that over one-third of respondents have been threatened or harassed over IM at work.

The use of IM for corporate espionage and other leaks of confidential and proprietary information is also expected to make headlines in 2007.

Employees have learned that e-mail is scanned for content and types of files attached, and will turn to IM to get around corporate security for electronic communications.
Akonix believes that companies without proper tools in place for IM risk management will suffer loss of intellectual property through both maliciousness and employee negligence.

The final prediction encompasses business applications leveraging presence and real-time communications will start to be deployed in 2007. Examples of these will include customer service and support, corporate directories and corporate IM bots and natural language IM query applications for enhancing employee productivity.

"We are predicting that 2007 will be the year in which multiple forces collide to create an undeniable pressure on companies to take action to avoid the risks and liabilities they face due to their employees’ use of IM in the workplace," said Peter Shaw, CEO, Akonix.