Stellar Combines Web, E-mail And Instant Messaging MonitoringStellar Combines Web, E-mail And Instant Messaging Monitoring

Stellar Technologies, a Naples, FL provider of employee Internet management and security solutions, said it is in the final testing stages for its Stellar Internet GEM (Global Employee Management) suite of Internet filtering, monitoring and archiving software.

The suite is designed to meet the Internet management needs for compliance, real time content-based blocking, and state-of-the-art real-time reporting for e-mail, instant messaging and Web browsing. Organizations can manage employee Internet activity by category, domain, user or computer to satisfy regulatory compliance, increase employee productivity, reduce wasted bandwidth and enhance litigation control. Internet activities supported by Stellar Internet GEM include Web browsing (HTTP/HTTPS traffic), e-mail, e-mail attachments, instant messaging and instant messaging attachments.

Last year, Stellar acquired e-mail migration specialist CompuSven and melded CompuSven's E-Mail Shuttle with its own Internet management program to create Stellar Internet GEM.

Internet GEM stores all collected data in what it calls the "Library of Record," a centralized reporting database available for role-based searches and reporting that links employee activities together in a virtual timeline.

"Our unique feature is that we combine all the data and store it in one database, so e-mail, IM and Web data can all be managed in context [with whatever storage and search parameters and administrator sets up]," said Sven James, Stellar's Chief Technology Officer.

The archived data can be interpreted with lexical analysis and place in predefined categories. For example, a manager might want to monitor employees' use of computers for inappropriate personal activities or for communications that go against company policies. "If a user is talking about gambling online or goes to a gambling Web site, those communications could get copied into a gambling category," said James. "The idea is to really know what is going on with your employees."

The blocking feature can prevent communications from being sent before they become potential lawsuits or release confidential information across the Internet. The software also archives all e-mail and IM communications to satisfy regulations imposed by NASD, SEC, Sarbanes-Oxley Act and HIPAA.

Key to the technology is what Stellar calls the "forensic document, " which describes the format of the flagged document, the process by which it was created and proves that the document is an exact duplicate of the original. That flagged document can also be followed around the system to see how it gets used within the organization and whether it gets sent outside the company.

Stellar Internet GEM will be rolled out in three phases. The first release will be able to monitor, report, block and archive Internet activity and is in final beta tests for delivery by the end of this month. The Instant Messaging module and then the E-mail module, according to James, will follow that shortly.

Stellar also is planning to add a VOIP module and P2P monitoring to the suite this year.