LogLogic offers software to log Exchange e-mail data

LogLogic Inc. Monday unveiled the first version of its software that logs information for and keeps track of all e-mail messages running on Microsoft Corp.'s Exchange Server.

LogLogic in San Jose, California, released an update to its LogLogic 3 software that adds support for logging transport data and metadata about e-mail transmissions on Exchange, but stops short of logging e-mail content information, said Dominique Levin, vice president of product management for LogLogic.

In this way, it protects any private information stored in the message, but lets IT administrators see who has sent and received messages and when they were sent and also allows them to track patterns in user e-mail activity, she said.

The update is the second release of the 4-year-old company's third generation of its software, Levin said. LogLogic 3 runs on hardware appliances the company sells to customers. The company plans to support logging of e-mail from IBM Corp.'s Lotus Notes software in a future release of LogLogic, she added.

Regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 in the U.S. and a new law in the European Union that requires certain companies to store between six months and two years of all e-mail log data, are spurring adoption of LogLogic's software, Levin said.

"The biggest driver these days is regulatory compliance," she said. However, Levin said that customers also use e-mail log information to get early warnings of problems and hints of suspicious behavior by employees, such as people sending spam from their corporate e-mail accounts.

Also, because the software stores a complete audit trail of e-mail sent and received, the information also can be used to comply with a subpoena in a lawsuit scenario, she said.

"If you ever have to prove anything, we keep archives between two and seven years of all e-mail activity, such as who sends e-mails to who and when -- a complete, protected forensic record of all e-mail activity," she said.

LogLogic 3 ships on the LogLogic LX and ST appliances, and can run alongside other servers in a network. The LX provides real-time alerting and agile reporting, whereas the ST appliance contains raw, unfiltered log data archives that can be searched using algorithms similar to those Google Inc. uses in its search engine, Levin said.

Both appliances can be purchased together for US$39,999. The update also is available for free to current customers with an active maintenance agreement with LogLogic, she said.