Akonix Security Center Publishes IM Threat Watch for July 2005; Monthly Report Highlights Continued Growth in IM Security Attacks.

SAN DIEGO -- Akonix Systems, the premier provider of IM security solutions, today announced that its Security Center team tracked 42 new threats to corporations targeting IM systems in July, a 24% increase over the previous month. The Akonix Security Center (www.imsecuritycenter.com) also issued 24 security policy updates, using the only dynamic IM malware, SPIM and protocol update system to automatically push updates to customers and block worms and viruses at the network perimeter in real-time.

The report highlights five new IM viruses, in addition to multiple variants of existing worms first discovered in earlier months. Among the new viruses were Rants, Prex, Kirvo, Hagbard and Lamar. Previous strands, such as Kelvir, Bropia, Opanki and Oscabot continued to reinvent themselves with updated malicious URL links and new messages to trick users. Of particular concern is the Rants virus, which has already propagated three times and is one of the first to spread across multiple IM networks. The Akonix Security Center continues to caution organizations against leaving their network perimeter unprotected.

"IM security continues to be a serious threat to enterprises around the world. July had the second highest number of threats since the beginning of the year, and there is no sign that this trend will slow down," said Francis Costello, chief technology officer at Akonix Systems. "In July we saw an IM vulnerability attack two different networks, which appears to be a new trend. This shows that virus writers are continuing to focus on different methods of infecting public IM systems, becoming more creative and harmful. Corporations that have not adopted an IM security solution need to take action in order to keep these viruses from making them a statistic."

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 focused on the emerging security threats posed by IM and P2P applications in the corporate environment. Detailed information about the July 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 [e-mail].

About Akonix

Akonix is the leading provider of enterprise-class solutions for ensuring security, compliance and control of enterprise IM use. Akonix's award-winning products leverage patent-pending core technology, an advanced IM application development platform, and certified strategic partnerships to deliver multi-network management, security, integration and compliance capabilities across all major IM systems, including America Online(R) AIM and ICQ, Microsoft MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, Microsoft(R) Live Communications Server, Reuters Messaging, IBM Lotus Instant Messaging (Sametime) and Jabber.

More than 700 customers in Financial Services, Telecommunications, Energy, Technology, Healthcare and Entertainment depend on Akonix to manage, secure and enable IM for nearly one million enterprise users. Akonix is the preferred IM management solution of some of the world's largest companies, including Cingular Wireless, EMC and ING.

Akonix is widely recognized as the technology and market innovator with awards for its L7 Enterprise IM gateway from Windows & .NET Magazine, Network World, eWeek, SC Magazine, PC Magazine and Red Herring. Akonix is backed by leading venture capital firms Menlo Ventures, Mission Ventures, Palomar Ventures and Windward Ventures, who collectively manage over $3.5 billion in capital.