The Seattle Times makes IM a valuable and secure reporting and publishing tool with IMlogic IM Manager

Business Wire, Dec 5, 2005

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Regional media powerhouse gains view into IM use, ensures compliance and security while allowing reporters to get the scoop

The Seattle Times, the Pacific Northwest region's most widely read newspaper, is deploying IMlogic IM Manager(TM) to gain visibility into staff instant messaging (IM) use, ensure compliance with internal and external use policies and prevent cyber threats from entering its network. With IMlogic IM Manager, the daily newspaper will securely manage reporters' confidential IM interviews with sources and the new media group's conversations about managing and supporting content online in real-time.

The Seattle Times Company found itself at a crossroads earlier this year as IM use continued to grow. IT managers worried about infrastructure exposure to cyber threats and whether staff was complying with the same usage policies already established for e-mail. "We had no visibility and no way to monitor, control or track IM use. We didn't know if files were being sent out without our knowledge," said Kyle Getz, director of IT at the Seattle Times Company. "Rather than shut down all IM use, we opted to manage it. Our tech folks did a thorough evaluation, talking to our peers and researching different solutions. IMlogic IM Manager and its Real-Time Threat Protection System turned out to be technically superior."

According to Getz, reporters have found that sources are more likely to divulge sensitive information via IM than e-mail, making it a preferred method of communication for staff. IMlogic IM Manager's ability to support the major public IM clients, including AOL, MSN and Yahoo!, will help reporters on deadline communicate in real-time with sources regardless of their preferred IM client. The IMlogic Real-Time Threat Protection System provides 24x7 defense against zero-day attacks to safeguard these conversations. IMlogic IM Manager's user-level administration will allow Getz and his team to archive IMs for search and retrieval while ensuring compliance with such capabilities as monitoring unauthorized file transfers.

The Seattle Times Company is the latest in a string of media/publishing companies that have chosen IMlogic IM Manager to transform IM from a risk to a powerful communications tool. Other recently announced customers include Time Warner, Rand McNally and Media General.

"The Seattle Times Company has a national reputation for delivering a Pulitzer Prize-winning paper," said IMlogic Chief Technology Officer Jon Sakoda. "Incorporating IM into its daily operations is a sign that the company is transcending long-held cliches about newspapers being slow to adopt new technologies. IMlogic IM Manager will help IT executives ensure reporters, new media staff and others continue to take advantage of the business benefits, and remain safe from the risks, of using instant messaging."

About the Seattle Times Company

The Seattle Times Company is a 109-year-old locally owned family business. Founded in 1896 by Alden J. Blethen, the Seattle Times is a fourth- and fifth-generation family business. The family's flagship newspaper, the Seattle Times, is the largest daily newspaper in Washington state (565,500 readership) and the largest Sunday newspaper in the Northwest (1,032,800 readership). Other Blethen-owned newspapers in Washington are the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, the Yakima Herald-Republic and the Issaquah Press. The company also owns the Blethen Maine Newspapers: The Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram; Kennebec Journal, in Augusta; Morning Sentinel, in Waterville; and Coastal Journal, in Bath. The company owns four news and information Web sites: seattletimes.com, NWclassifieds.com, NWsource.com, and MaineToday.com. More company information, including links to affiliate newspaper Web sites, is available at seattletimescompany.com.

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.