Press Release

Leading Internet Security Resource, Spywareguide.Com, Expands To Address Next Wave Of Threats Spread Through Greynets

Globally Recognized Researchers Expand Insight, Information and Free Tools to Address Real Time Communications Including IM, Chat Rooms, & P2P File Sharing

FOSTER CITY, CALIF - July 20, 2006 - SpywareGuide.com, the popular public reference site for security research sponsored by FaceTime Communications, has expanded its tools, added new research blogs and broadened its reference database. The expanded database provides more in-depth information about spyware, adware and malware spread through the use of greynets including instant messaging (IM), chat rooms, P2P file sharing, web browsing and collaboration software. The site is highly ranked by most major search engines for spyware and adware keyword searches, and receives more than 1.5 million user sessions per month.

Real-time communications applications are expanding from their beginnings as consumer applications populated by teenagers to become mainstream business productivity tools. While the business potential for harnessing their advantages is promising, these greynets can introduce security risks, compliance concerns, and the potential for information leakage if left unmanaged. IM, P2P and web collaboration networks are among the foremost carriers of spyware, adware, worms, rootkits and other malware that evade the currently deployed network security infrastructure.

SpywareGuide.com offers a comprehensive resource for researchers, network managers, users, reporters and analysts to gain an understanding of the behavior of greynets and the threats they can carry.

SpywareGuide.com Public Resources
The Research Database on SpywareGuide.com, is an extensive resource center with dynamic information on all types of malware in an extensive and continually updated database. The site gives visitors the opportunity to contribute tips and information about malware or phishing attacks for SpywareGuide.com researchers to pursue, and provides recommendations on how to manage or prevent malware incidents.

On the Greynets Blog, FaceTime researchers talk candidly about greynet threats, covering spyware, adware, IM worms, rootkits and the rapidly changing security landscape. Beyond researching individual threats, the Greynets Blog team provides deep insight into the tactics and strategies used by those on both sides of the growing wave of cyber problems. The Greynets Blog features key FaceTime security experts, including:

Chris Boyd, also known as Paperghost, a two-time Microsoft Security MVP and leading spyware researcher;
Wayne Porter, a highly recognized e-commerce fraud expert and co-founder of ReveNews.com, also recently named a Microsoft Security MVP.

Together, Boyd and Porter blend cross-disciplined knowledge to help people understand the new fusion of malware and money.

The new Tools section provides visitors to SpywareGuide.com with a free online computer scan to discover any malware threats on their PC. Visitors may also download a free version of the X-Cleaner spyware remover, which includes free updates obtained through SpywareGuide.com to neutralize new threats as they develop. In addition, a free end user license agreement (EULA) analyzer, currently in beta, assists users in better understanding the contracts they enter into when using software on the Internet.

Backed by FaceTime Security Labs
Backed by the global research of FaceTime Security Labs, SpywareGuide.com has been the first to publish warnings on a variety of greynet-related malware incidents. Recent research by FaceTime Security Labs uncovered malware incidents including the self-propagating worm, yahoo32.explr, spread via Yahoo! Instant Messenger (see Self Propagating Worm Installs Unsafe "Safety Browser," May 19, 2006), and the OrcWorm that targeted Google's Orkut social networking site, extracting banking and password data from users' PCs (see "FaceTime Security Labs Warns against Data-Theft Worm Targeting Google's Orkut," June 19, 2006).

The SpywareGuide.com team also uncovered some of the worst spyware threats last year, including the discovery of a worm distributed via AOL&trade Instant Messenger (AIM) carrying a rootkit that pushed video to user desktops via BitTorrent's P2P software. This instance of malware was linked to a group in the Middle East. In addition to protecting consumers and enterprises by providing information on spyware threats, the research team continues to coordinate with law enforcement officials to identify and assist in the apprehension of criminal perpetrators of malware.

FaceTime Security Labs is the industry's foremost research organization dedicated to the identification of new greynets and the collection, analysis, and remediation of threats generated through the use of greynets. The team includes researchers based in California, West Virginia, the United Kingdom, and India. This global team is aggressively researching new security threats around the clock.

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, Reuters 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