MessageLabs Announces Next Generation Enterprise Instant Messenger Service, Enhancing Its Integrated Managed Services Portfolio.

NEW YORK -- MessageLabs, a leading provider of integrated messaging and web security services to businesses worldwide, today announced the launch of its Enterprise Instant Messenger (EIM) Service. The EIM solution is designed to optimize corporate IM use, and eliminate the risks and concerns arising from traditional instant messaging and file sharing offerings. MessageLabs managed service approach provides organizations with the ability to fully integrate messaging security and management - including IM, email and web - without the need for in-house hardware and software and all the associated, and often unpredictable, costs.

In October 2005, MessageLabs acquired Omnipod and began incorporating its enterprise IM service into the full portfolio of MessageLabs messaging and web security services. The new MessageLabs EIM service addresses the key business issues surrounding IM in the workplace: security, organizational compliance, legal discovery, control, acceptable use, and accountability. In addition, it establishes corporate best practices to mitigate risks associated with unsecured public IM use in the workplace. Analysts estimate that more than 100 million people use IM in the enterprise, a figure which is expected to increase at an annual rate of between 23 to 40 percent over the next four years.

"As IM use in the workplace continues to increase, so too do the number of IM security threats. And worryingly, most IT managers today are largely oblivious to IM use within their businesses as the majority of employees are using an unsecure public IM client such as AOL, MSN or Yahoo! outside of their IT department's control," said Jos White, President of MessageLabs. "Increasingly, our clients are looking to us to manage all of their messaging security needs. Our Enterprise Instant Messenger solution incorporates all of the knowledge and experience we've gathered through years of proven threat protection and management of email and web traffic. We will continue to invest and develop MessageLabs patented technologies to keep pace with evolving security threats and stay ahead of the expanding messaging needs of today's businesses."

MessageLabs suite of managed services ensures the integrity of electronic communications, helping organizations to manage and reduce risk while securing critical infrastructure and business information. By providing secure managed IM communications, the MessageLabs EIM service adds significant value to an enterprise's existing messaging tools, while giving employees the freedom, flexibility and instant gratification offered by this near ubiquitous communication channel. At present, MessageLabs EIM customers span across all industries from manufacturing and financial services to healthcare and media.

"We chose the MessageLabs EIM Service because it provided better security and worldwide reliability, as well as speed and ease of installation," said Dale Spencer, Vice President of Information Technology at Aviza Technology, Inc. "Unlike other managed service providers, MessageLabs EIM interoperates with other popular IM platforms while providing a fully secure, private and encrypted channel that blocks the increasing number of IM-related threats while giving us the control we require for compliance with corporate and regulatory policies."

The MessageLabs managed EIM service offers enterprise level management functionality that is designed for maximum stability and scalability to meet an organization's needs with minimal maintenance and management required. It includes sophisticated administrative features, robust web-based reporting, the ability to map to existing enterprise user directories, Internet-level file scanning, IM logging capabilities, and interoperability with leading public IM networks.

The MessageLabs EIM Service is now available in three bundles:

EIM Communicate - Provides the ability to securely chat and exchange files with other users within the same organization, and includes the MessageLabs POD (Professional Online Desktop) client and EIM File Sharing function.

EIM Connect - Allows users to connect with users outside of the EIM network, through a variety of platforms, and includes EIM Interoperate, EIM Logging and EIM SMS.

EIM Collaborate - Gives users the ability to work with a full suite of communication products in a single interface, and provides integration with additional applications such as WebEx and SalesForce.

MessageLabs EIM Service is available now, to organizations around the world, and can be purchased as a single service or in combination with MessageLabs email and web security and management services for a complete and fully integrated solution.

About MessageLabs

MessageLabs is a leading provider of integrated messaging and web security services, with over 14,000 clients ranging from small business to the Fortune 500 located in more than 80 countries. MessageLabs provides a range of managed security services to protect, control, encrypt and archive communications across Email, Web and Instant Messaging.

These services are delivered by MessageLabs globally distributed infrastructure and supported 24/7 by security experts. This provides a convenient and cost-effective solution for managing and reducing risk and providing certainty in the exchange of business information. For more information, please visit www.messagelabs.com.