IM Firewall Key Features

The Barracuda IM Firewall provides IM gateway features allowing simple and rapid installation and management of public IM traffic on a network. Upon installation the Barracuda IM Firewall will begin identifying and logging IM traffic to its internal database for future viewing or auditing.

Control of public IM services such as AOL, Yahoo, and MSN has become essential in order to maintain network security, message confidentiality, and protection against viruses. The Barracuda IM Firewall provides the ability to log or block public IM services, scan public IM traffic for viruses, and manage the identities of public IM users on your network.

Instant Messaging Server

Integrated instant messaging server provides companies with a secure internal IM network. Internal messages need never leave the corporate network, and are protected by industry leading 256bit encryption. Our Barracuda IM Client is easy to install and deploy and extremely user friendly, making user adaptation a breeze.

Security

The Barracuda IM Firewall offers the highest level of message encryption available on any IM product. Our 256bit message encryption ensures that your corporate messages remain private as long as you are using the Barracuda IM Client. Our client provides users security even outside their corporate network from anywhere on the internet.

Logging & Reporting

With the Barracuda IM Firewall all instant messaging traffic on your network is logged, including group chat sessions and file transfers. All logs are stored on the appliance and can be easily backed up or exported.

Centralized Administration

The Barracuda Instant Messaging Firewall features an easy-to-use Web interface allowing for easy and cost effective administration of the appliance. The Web interface allows you to define, manage and control corporate IM policies from one central place.

• Barracuda Energize Updates
  A team of security engineers at Barracuda Central continuously monitors the Internet for trends in IM and virus attacks. As they detect trends, updates are created for the Barracuda IM Firewall. The Barracuda IM Firewall is then automatically updated with new IM rules, Public IM IP address ranges and ports, and virus definitions. These updates require zero administration and ensure that your network has comprehensive and accurate protection.
• Logs and Graphical Reports System
  Administrators can view logs or generate graphical reports to provide visibility within the organization. The Barracuda Instant Messaging Firewall can provide information on IM conversations, public IM access, file transfers, presence, viruses, and more.
• No Per User Charges
  Barracuda Instant Messaging Firewall pricing is simple. Each of the Barracuda IM Firewalls is designed to handle an approximate number of users. The Barracuda IM Firewall includes a robust feature set at one fixed price with no per user charges. This means the system administrator no longer has to worry about keeping track of new accounts.

LDAP Integration

The Barracuda IM Firewall integrates seamlessly with any LDAP compliant directory servers including Microsoft Active Directory, Novell eDirectory, Lotus Domino, and Open LDAP. Once the directory server is integrated, the Barracuda IM Firewall can manage policies using LDAP users and groups.

Rollout Tools

Unlike other client side technologies, rolling out and installing client side software is simple. Administrators can chose to roll the client out to users via an email containing the download link, install instructions and the users username and password. Installation is as simple a clicking next, next, and finish.

The zero configuration installer automatically knows the name of the server to which that user will connect. Additionally, contact lists can be automatically populated using the Barracuda Roster Push tool, providing administrators the ability to populate their users’ contact lists before first log on, or when an employee joins or leaves the organization.

Keyword Tools

Keyword notification and content management tools ensure that your users are adhering to your internal policies and government compliance regulations. Keywords, phrases, and regular expressions can be identified, removed, or blocked entirely within IM conversations. If a policy violation is committed, the appropriate parties can be notified via email or IM. All policy violations are logged and noted.