Press Release: FaceTime's Gateway-to-Desktop Anti-Spyware

by SpywareGuide Staff


FaceTime Announces the First Integrated Gateway-to-Desktop Spyware Prevention System

Patent-Pending Technology Instantly Pinpoints Infected PCs and Performs Clientless Targeted Remediation to Disarm Spyware Applications

FOSTER CITY, CALIF?August 29, 2005? FaceTime Communications today announced the FaceTime Enterprise Spyware Prevention Suite, the first and only integrated, anti-spyware solution that detects, prevents and automatically remediates spyware on infected PCs ? without having to deploy desktop software. Powered by new patent-pending technology and the Greynets Research Database, the Enterprise Spyware Prevention Suite enables organizations to protect business assets, significantly reduce help desk and clean up costs, improve desktop productivity, and prevent information theft associated with spyware and adware.

?Businesses consider spyware to be a major nuisance,? said Peter Firstbrook, Research Director, at Gartner. ?A PC can be infected with spyware to the point where pop-up ads and malicious programs can severely interfere with user productivity and business operations. Gartner estimates that 20 percent to 40 percent of enterprise help desk calls are related to infestations of unwanted ?adware? and ?spyware? programs.?

Spyware, IM and P2P applications are part of a category of networked applications that FaceTime calls ?greynets.? Greynets are network enabled applications that are installed on an end user?s system without permission from IT and are highly evasive at the network level. Spyware, in particular, creates significant productivity and monetary losses for enterprises today. According to a July 2005 survey published by NewDiligence, IT managers at large enterprises reported an average of 277 spyware attacks per month. This translates into nearly $130,000 spent per month in IT resources. In addition, because spyware can open up a communication channel outside the network through its ?phone home? activities, sensitive data and regulatory compliance can be compromised.

Calyon Financial is a global brokerage firm providing institutional clients with efficient access to financial and commodity markets around the world. ?In a regulated industry, we need to be able to ensure all electronic communications comply with company policy and are logged and archived,? said John Takemura, FVP Head of IT Production, at Calyon Financial. ?Greynet applications like spyware pose a significant risk to confidential data. FaceTime has a long heritage in helping financial institutions with their compliance needs and their anti-spyware solution will help ensure we continue to meet regulatory requirements.?

About FaceTime Enterprise Spyware Prevention Suite
Effective spyware prevention requires the intelligent harnessing and deployment of both gateway and desktop components. Utilizing patent-pending capabilities obtained through the XBlock Systems acquisition, the FaceTime Enterprise Spyware Prevention Suite delivers a multi-layered defense against spyware applications from the Internet gateway to the PC endpoint using a single management framework. The Enterprise Spyware Prevention Suite consists of two key components:

1. The recently announced RTGuardian 3.0 anti-spyware gateway appliance at the perimeter, and
2. The FaceTime Enterprise Spyware Manager (ESM) - a centralized management, reporting and control server in the LAN.

Gateway Detection and Prevention
The RTG 3.0 appliance delivers advanced gateway-based spyware detection and prevention to protect organizations from spyware ? before it infects the network.

• Monitors all possible channels ? HTTP, IM, P2P, and more ?for spyware activity.
• Blocks attempts by previously installed spyware to ?phone home? with unauthorized data, thus preserving the integrity of corporate information assets.
• Reports ?phone home? activity identifying both the infected PC and the specific spyware application. This allows for targeted remediation of the infected PCs, dramatically reducing the possibility of false positives.
• Blocks user access to known spyware sites, preventing accidental infections.
• Stops ?drive-by? installations of known and unknown spyware applications distributed through Web, P2P and IM communications.
• Prevents unintentional downloads of spyware hidden within or co-opted by a seemingly helpful application using multiple behavioral factors.

Targeted Desktop Remediation and Inoculation
The Enterprise Spyware Manager provides centralized control and management of client scanning, remediation and inoculation and is completely transparent to the user avoiding any impact on productivity.

• Detections reported by RTG can be used to initiate a targeted scan of any managed PC or group of PCs based on custom policies set by the administrator.
• Patent-pending inoculation hardens PC operating systems to block new spyware installations and ?freeze in place? existing installations, without the need to deploy any client software. This mitigates the need for continuous rescanning of PCs and helps to ensure that mobile users won?t get re-infected when outside the LAN.
• Optional, ?headless? (no user interface) anti-spyware client can be pushed out ?hands-free? to PCs for removal and cleansing of targeted spyware applications and can be configured to stay resident or be removed from the PC. Enterprises can also choose to utilize their existing desktop software of choice.

Crowe Chizek and Company LLC is one of the top 10 public accounting and consulting firms in the United States, serving clients worldwide as a leading member of the Horwath International network of public accounting and consulting firms. ?At Crowe, we have a large mobile workforce and it is important that we safeguard these laptops from adware and spyware infections,? said Rex Voorheis, Senior Manager of Network Infrastructure for Crowe. ?FaceTime?s end-to-end solution for preventing spyware gives us immediate visibility on all spyware infections, prevents the spyware from connecting to the internet and quickly identifies infected PCs. We believe this will help us reduce the time our staff spends dealing with these problems and protect confidential customer data.?

?Greynet applications such as adware/spyware are growing increasingly evasive and are entering the network through the browser and other vectors,? said Jonathan Christensen, CTO of FaceTime Communications. ?Whether spyware piggybacks on trusted applications or is distributed through an IM worm or within a P2P payload, organizations need to have a multi-pronged approach to be effective. With FaceTime?s patent-pending technology, comprehensive architecture and industry leading security research team, our customers can achieve the highest efficacy against spyware.?

Pricing and Availability
The FaceTime Enterprise Spyware Prevention Suite, including RTG and ESM, starts at $5,000.00 and will be available in 30 days. The RTG gateway appliance is available immediately and can be deployed separately starting at $3,995. The products are available worldwide through authorized FaceTime distributors and partners.

About FaceTime Communications
Founded in 1998, FaceTime Communications is the leading provider of security solutions for the management and control of greynet applications such as adware/spyware, instant messaging, webmail, P2P file sharing, web conferencing and instant voice. FaceTime delivers the industry?s first IMPact Index, which assesses ?point-in-time? risks posed by viruses, worms and other malware propagating through greynet applications. FaceTime's award-winning solutions are used by over 500 customers, among them seven of the eight largest U.S. financial institutions. FaceTime supports or has strategic partnerships with all leading public and private IM network providers, including AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, IBM, Bloomberg, Jabber and Reuters. For more information, visit www.facetime.com.

FaceTime is headquartered in Foster City, California. For more information visit http://www.facetime.com or call 888-349-FACE.

PR Contact:

Bridgett Coates
650-429-2748

This article is copyright 2005 by XBlock.com.
It may not be reprinted or copied without the express written consent of the author.

Read other articles (back to full list)