Civil Air Patrol Coordinates Search and Rescue Flights with Instant Messaging Managed by IMlogic IM Manager; Operations Center Orchestrated Emergency Hurricane Response Flights While Ensuring Real-Time Conversations Were Secure and Compliant

Business Wire, Dec 19, 2005

WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) depends on IMlogic IM Manager(TM) to secure emergency real-time communications with volunteers across the country for search and rescue flights, Department of Homeland Security missions and disaster response. CAP coordinated its vital missions in the South following the devastation wrought by hurricanes Katrina and Rita using instant messaging to plan hundreds of missions to find survivors, take aerial photographs and help bring aid to those in need.

Initially, CAP's network team was concerned that instant messaging would expose the organization's communications infrastructure to a raft of viruses and worms and proposed shutting down all IM. "In the emergency response world, the immediacy of communications is absolutely critical," said CAP Chief of Communications Malcolm Kyser. "We had to make a case that IM is not a toy, but a mission-critical resource. IM Manager provides the file transfer blocking and comprehensive management necessary to minimize the risk and transform IM from a liability into an indispensable emergency response and general operations tool."

Kyser works in the operations center headquarters at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala. From there, operations managers coordinate all CAP flight missions directed from the United States Air Force, the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. As a decentralized, nonprofit auxiliary to the Air Force, CAP is the largest single owner of a general aviation fleet in the world. IM plays a significant role in connecting key volunteers around the country who direct functions such as training, budgeting, staffing and operations. CAP uses IMlogic IM Manager to prevent viruses and worms from attacking the network and to ensure users comply with internal IM use policies.

"Because communications are at the heart of what we do, we wanted to make sure we wouldn't fall prey to cyber attacks, particularly with the speed at which IM can deliver worms and viruses," said CAP Network Administrator Norman Thames. "After evaluating our options, we chose IM Manager because of the combination of the Real-Time Threat Protection System's defense against zero-day attacks and the network- and user-level management of IM Manager, which ensures our systems are secure and compliant."

CAP is using IMlogic IM Manager to manage its America Online AOL(R) Instant Messenger(TM) (AIM(R)) network.

"CAP is the latest in a list of customers that have used IMlogic IM Manager to reduce the risk of cyber threats, while leveraging the significant value of real-time communications," said IMlogic Chief Technology Officer, Jon Sakoda. "With the scale of disasters of recent months, instant communication and collaboration to help coordinate search and delivery of supplies is even more critical."

About Civil Air Patrol

CAP, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 56,000 members nationwide. It performs 95 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Langley Air Force Base, Va. CAP was credited in 2004 by the AFRCC with saving more than 140 lives. CAP volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and counter-drug missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. Members take a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to the almost 23,000 young people currently participating in the CAP Cadet Program. CAP has been performing missions for America for more than 63 years. For more information, go to www.cap.gov or call CAP's toll-free hotline: 1-800-FLY-2338.

About IMlogic Inc.

IMlogic Inc. is the market leader in instant messaging management and security software. Companies across the financial services, energy, healthcare, government, media, telecommunications, technology, and manufacturing industries, including Fortune 100 companies, depend on the award-winning IMlogic IM Manager to manage, control and secure corporate IM usage, while satisfying messaging compliance requirements. For more information on IMlogic, call 877-IMlogic or visit www.imlogic.com.