Barracuda IM Firewall to log public IM traffic

Barracuda Networks announced Barracuda IM Firewall enhancements, which include the ability to monitor and record public IM traffic out-of-band using a span port, hub or Ethernet tap.

The Barracuda IM Firewall is the only all-in-one instant messaging appliance to incorporate an IM server with public IM traffic monitoring, IM archiving and policy management technologies.  Using the Barracuda IM Firewall, customers can monitor and log all internal IM traffic over the internal server as well as all public IM traffic over popular public IM networks such as Yahoo!, MSN, AOL and ICQ.  New enhancements will allow IT administrators to monitor and log these same public channels without deploying an inline security appliance.  Logging IM messages is an important feature for organizations that need to comply with message retention policies for legal or regulatory reasons.

The Barracuda IM Firewall is available in five models and pricing starts at $1,999 with no per user licensing fees.  Out-of-band message monitoring and logging capabilities will be made available to existing customers using firmware version 2.1 or higher at no extra charge and to new customers out of the box.Â