Akonix Security Center Publishes IM Threat Watch for November 2005; Monthly Report Shows the Highest Number of IM Security Attacks Seen to Date.

SAN DIEGO -- Akonix Systems, the premier provider of instant messaging (IM) security solutions, today announced that its Security Center team tracked 62 IM-based attacks in November, a 226% increase over last month. A total of 14 attacks hit P2P networks, such as Kazaa and eDonkey. The Akonix Security Center (www.imsecuritycenter.com) issued 17 SPIM and malware filter updates using the industry's only dynamic SPIM and protocol control system to automatically push the latest security information to customers and block worms and viruses at the network perimeter in real time.

Following last month's trend, November continued to see attacks against one major public IM network outnumber any other network threats by a margin of almost two to one. The most significant new finding was that 36% of the IM attacks hit more than one public network, and 13% of the IM attacks had the capability to spread through all four major IM networks. This shows that viruses no longer discriminate against specific IM systems, and can have a far costlier impact in terms of potential damage.

Key Threat Watch findings:

--The number of IM attacks from October 2005 to November 2005 increased by 226%

--58 worms were variants of previous worms, while four new worms were introduced during November

--The Akonix Security Center issued 17 SPIM and malware filter updates in November, an 42% increase over last month

--P2P attacks decreased by 36% from October 2005 to November 2005

"November marked the highest number of IM threats that we have ever seen to date, proving that hackers see this real-time communications medium as a wide-open security hole in corporate networks," said Don Montgomery, vice president of marketing at Akonix Systems. "With nearly 50 new attacks this month alone, it's critical that organizations take immediate action to protect their networks. Beyond the loss of employee productivity, the price to clean up a virus is shocking, with some reports estimating the remediation cost of the Blaster virus at nearly half a million dollars per enterprise."

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 November 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 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. Leveraging more than 12 patents, 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.