Spam buster Postini to add IM filtering

E-mail security provider Postini is branching out. In the third quarter, the Redwood City, Calif.-based company plans to introduce a hosted spam- and virus-filtering service for instant messaging, Andrew Lochart, senior director of marketing at Postini, said Monday. Postini has licensed technology from IMlogic, a specialist in instant-messaging security and compliance, for the service, Lochart said. Details of the licensing agreement are not being disclosed.

As with e-mail, organizations will be able to route their IM traffic through Postini's servers. The messages will be scanned for viruses, worms and spam. Additionally, customers will be able to enforce content policies on the service--blocking the transmission of sensitive information, for example. IM-borne security threats have increased dramatically in volume since the start of 2005. Postini won't immediately offer services for companies to comply with data-retention requirements, but has plans to introduce those later this year, Lochart said.