Akonix L7 Enterprise for ISA Server

Akonix L7 Enterprise integrates with the Microsoft ISA Server to provide protection against security threats from Public Instant Messaging and P2P file sharing.

Akonix L7 extends the security Microsoft ISA Server provides to encompass the most popular public IM services, including MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and ICQ. Optional P2P support blocks the use P2P file sharing preventing illegal downloads -- infected computer systems from online viruses, exposed company confidential files on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.

Leveraging existing enterprise protection provided by Microsoft ISA Server, Akonix L7 adds management capability to transform Public Instant Messaging into a powerful real-time communications application. Akonix L7 Enterprise provides advanced messaging features to secure and manage communications between employees, with customers and business partners.

When integrated with ISA Server, Akonix L7 receives redirected public IM traffic via an ISA Server Application Filter. Akonix L7 then manages all public IM activity via granular policies that control users and content, scan for file transfer viruses, keep internal messages secure, and provide detailed archiving and reporting. Active policy management prevents policy violations and enforcement actions can include session termination, administrator and user alerts and flagging for offline reporting.

With the Akonix Enforcer technology ISA Server users gain an extra level of protection by ensuring that Public Instant Messaging and P2P traffic cannot evade security measures.

Installation & Setup

Akonix L7 uses a wizard-driven process to speed installation and setup; ISA Server customers can be up and running, protected by Akonix L7 Enterprise, within a few hours. The wizard guides automatic user and group import from existing domains, initial policy creation, and selection of archiving and reporting options and startup of the Akonix L7 Enterprise.

Operation
On startup, the Akonix L7 Gateway begins automatically discovering public IM users within the IM traffic redirected from ISA Server. With each login attempt, Akonix L7 maps the user’s screen name to the user’s internal network credentials and records this relationship for use during real-time policy enforcement.

Policies can be created and applied to both network users and groups, and can be triggered by a variety of message attributes, including message content, attached file type, size and name, time-of-day, and intended recipient. And P2P file sharing use can be blocked.

Akonix L7 can also be configured to scan IM file attachments for viruses and to enforce the use of the latest Public IM client versions to close known security loopholes.

To help maintain confidentiality, Akonix L7 identifies messages sent between internal users and keeps them inside the network perimeter, eliminating the risks associated with transmitting information over public networks and public servers.

System Requirements

Akonix L7 Enterprise Gateway

Microsoft ISA Server
Windows 2000 Server SP1 or higher
Intel Pentium III processor, 800 MHZ or faster
1 GB free disk space
512MB RAM or greater

Akonix L7 Enterprise Manager

Windows 2000 Workstation or Server SP1 or higher
Intel Pentium III processor, 800 MHZ or faster
1 GB free disk space
Microsoft Management Console 1.2 or higher
MS SQL Server 2000, MS SQL Server 7, or Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE; included)

ISA Server integration is available via the Akonix L7 Direct Firewall Connection option.