Run instant messaging internally, securely

Have you found Instant Messaging (IM) running on just about every box in your enterprise? Want to secure IM? Meet Jabber. Jabber is a streaming XML based open source instant messenger server.  You can provision a Linux server to host the Jabber server quite easily and more securely on your own network.

Building a Jabber Server

A jabber server builds from the jabberd2.x release, which is licensed under the GPL. Once running, a jabber server will provide support for your internal IM clients. Should you need to have external IM contacts that cannot connect to your internal IM server, some of the jabber clients can connect contacts from other Internet IM services.

The enterprise IM server can also take a big load off of your email server from a storage and message traffic perspective. Too many times, long threads of email traffic with one-line replies waste resources on your expensive email system. A (free) IM service on your network would be a better solution for messaging that is not important to store per long-term email retention policies for storage.

IM in the enterprise

The Jabber client offers more options for Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems, but IM over the Internet for business matters is not a good practice. Security rules can be violated in practice by sending passwords, sensitive files and personnel data because users may find it quicker and easier than correct mechanisms.