Although that work is still in its early stages, it could server as a base for incorporating all of the elements needed to create secure instant messaging and presence applications, including authentication and encryption. IMU rundown Brian Park, senior producer for Yahoo Messenger, is part of the IMU group. The goal of this coalition is to provide instant messaging interoperability. IMU hopes to print specs for interoperability by the end of August, Park said. By the end of December, we hope to achieve functional interoperability.
Users still have to sign up with each service.
While he admits that messengers have security holes, Park does not voice the concern that some IT mangers might. But I think the IETF will continue to make it more private and more secure. Instant messaging is growing because it fulfils an essential need in people's lives today, Park suggested. He sees its use expanding from desktop PCs to wireless devices and from mere text messages to voice messages and image attachments. Such progress, again, will clearly give pause to IT managers who must be conscious of enterprise system security.