Press Release
Unprecedented Fraud and Large Fines Highlight Compliance Requirements for Unified Communications
Survey finds 45 percent of IT managers would be unable to produce an archive of
specific employee communications
BELMONT, CALIF. - March 6, 2008 - FaceTime Communications, the leading
provider of solutions that secure Web and
unified communications (UC) in the enterprise, has seen growing concern
among large organizations over the past several weeks, examining their ability
to log, archive and retrieve instant messages.
The recent concern is fueled in part by news reports related to $7.1 billion in
losses caused by a rogue trader at Société Générale, a large French bank.
Earlier this month, instant messages reportedly exposed a new twist in the
scandal surrounding the record losses. Other cases also have brought
e-discovery to the news forefront in recent months, including a patent
infringement trial involving Qualcomm Inc. and Broadcom Corp. that resulted in
fines to Qualcomm in excess of $9 million due to its untimely response to
e-discovery requests.
Among the changes to the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure which took effect December 1, 2006, is a broad new
definition of what constitutes discoverable electronically stored information.
Companies need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other
electronic documents they store - whether or not they define them as business
records - and, if involved in litigation, be able to produce their
"electronically stored information" according to specific requirements as part
of the litigation discovery process. Put in simple terms, if the communication
is saved electronically it is subject to the e-discovery rules.
Most companies have implemented solutions to archive and monitor their e-mail
systems, but fewer companies have established archiving systems for
instant messaging, Web conferencing and other real-time communications
used by office workers.
The problem is widespread. Only 68 percent of IT managers are at work locations
where there are specific guidelines and polices that govern the archiving and
storage of instant messages, e-mail and chat communications, according to the
survey Greynets in the Enterprise: Third Annual Survey of Greynet Trends,
Attitudes and Impacts, conducted by NewDiligence Market Research and
commissioned by FaceTime. Further, 45 percent of IT managers would be unable to
produce a record of a specific employee's instant message communications if
required to do so for legal purposes, and just 55 percent of IT managers
surveyed have received guidance from their corporate counsel concerning the
archiving and storage of e-mails, instant messages, chats and other employee
communications. For more information on the Greynets Survey, visit:
http://www.facetime.com/solutions/greynets.aspx.
"Though the law does not grant an expectation of privacy to an employee
communicating over a work PC or network, most employees still assume that their
IM conversations are private and unmonitored," said Frank Cabri, vice president
of marketing and product management for FaceTime Communications. "At this point
in time, it appears that they are largely correct. However, recent cases
emphasize the importance of monitoring and archiving electronic communications
and their ramifications on businesses when not implemented."
With the rapid rise of real-time communications channels like instant
messaging, IT managers are faced with decisions about what to block and what to
allow. According to the Greynets Survey, 45 percent of IT managers are at work
locations where enterprise instant messaging or unified communications are
deployed. Even at these locations, 74 percent report that public instant
message networks are also used by employees. Put another way, employees at up
to one-third of work locations use both enterprise and public instant
messaging.
Société Générale Instant Messages Archived and Retrieved
In the case surrounding Société Générale, the
international press reported that the review of thousands of pages of
instant message conversations revealed that the rogue trader may not have acted
alone, and alleviated concerns that bank managers had knowledge of the trader's
activities. Press reports noted that much of the trading scheme was discussed
over instant messaging, as opposed to more traditional e-mail channels.
Société Générale's ability to retrieve these instant messages provided a clear
trail for investigators. This is not surprising, as the financial sector has
long led the way in policy and technology to insure compliance of
electronically transmitted and stored information.
Qualcomm Fined for Not Producing ESI
Perhaps the most visible recent case involving e-discovery was last year's
patent infringement suit between Qualcomm and Broadcom. According to news reports, Broadcom sought electronic documents that
would prove Qualcomm's early involvement in an industry trade group, which
would mitigate its right to file for patent infringement.
As described in the
March 1, 2008, issue of Corporate Counsel Magazine, important
electronically stored information of Qualcomm was not discovered until the time
of trial and by the time it was produced, it was too late. The article reports
judge Rudi Brewster of San Diego ordered the company to pay Broadcom's legal
fees and costs in the amount of $9.26 million, ruled that the two Qualcomm
patents were unenforceable and referred the matter for possible disciplinary
procedures.
FaceTime's IMAuditor Insures Management, Security and Compliance
IMAuditor™ is the leading enterprise-class solution for the security,
compliance management and control of instant messaging and other real-time
communication applications. The growing use of both public and enterprise
instant message applications in the enterprise is posing both inbound and
outbound security threats that can result in security breaches, productivity
loss and information leakage.
IMAuditor supports all public and enterprise
instant messaging clients, including Microsoft
Office Communications Server and IBM
Lotus Sametime, as well as industry-focused instant message communities
such as Reuters and Bloomberg, and Web conferencing applications such as WebEx.
Deployed behind the firewall, it provides a single enterprise-wide instant
message management solution that gives IT visibility into and control over all
real-time communications through a single interface.
About FaceTime Communications
FaceTime Communications enables the safe and productive use of instant
messaging, Web usage and Unified Communications platforms. Ranked number one by
IDC for four consecutive years, FaceTime's award-winning solutions are used by
more than 900 customers - including nine of the 10 largest U.S. banks - for
security, management and compliance of real-time communications. FaceTime
supports or has strategic partnerships with all leading public and enterprise
IM network providers, including AOL, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Skype, IBM and Jabber.
FaceTime is headquartered in Belmont, California. For more information visit
http://www.facetime.com or call 888-349-FACE. The FaceForward blog, at
http://blog.facetime.com, offers thoughts and opinions about the changing
nature of Internet communications.
PR Contact:
Emily Chamberlin
650-762-2945
echamberlin@ar-edelman.com
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