Proofpoint Launches Industry's First Instagram Security Solution

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 14, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Proofpoint, Inc., (NASDAQ:PFPT), a leading next-generation cybersecurity company, today announced the first solution that automatically identifies Instagram security threats, compliance violations and inappropriate content for removal. Proofpoint SocialPatrol™ performs advanced analysis of images, text and text embedded within images, enabling brands and compliance-aware organizations to monitor and eliminate posts and comments.

"Proofpoint SocialPatrol helped us control high levels of spam and inappropriate comments on our Instagram accounts," said Jeff Hagen, director of Global Customer Relations for General Mills. "Without the Proofpoint SocialPatrol technology, our only recourse would have been a costly expansion of our manual moderation or risk losing followers."

Proofpoint SocialPatrol scans all Instagram images, captions and comments on brand or corporate-owned accounts for pornographic, malicious or otherwise inappropriate content and notifies account owners. Once identified, social media marketers can easily remove inappropriate posts made by cybercriminals, spammers and rogue employees.

"Eighty five percent of top brands are using Instagram to connect with consumers—and with more than 400 million monthly active users, brands need a way to more safely engage," said Devin Redmond, vice president and general manager of Proofpoint Social Media Security and Compliance. "Proofpoint SocialPatrol for Instagram allows companies across all verticals that may have hesitated to invest in Instagram, to adopt it more rapidly and effectively with compliance and security built-in. We are the first company to adapt security to this new phase of visual-based social communication by providing automated security scanning for both images and text within Instagram."

Keyword and text-only security compliance solutions are blind to images on Instagram and generate too many false detections. Proofpoint SocialPatrol analyzes text and images and compares them to more than 100 algorithmic classifiers. This analysis allows brand managers to protect their brands by quickly identifying non-compliant, inappropriate and malicious posts and comments. Proofpoint SocialPatrol complements Proofpoint SocialDiscover™ which allows brands to find, track and audit branded Instagram accounts.

In addition to Instagram, the Proofpoint suite of social media solutions provides advanced tracking and protection for branded social media accounts across all major social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube. Top brands use its patent-pending technology to find their social accounts, report fraudulent accounts, stop hackers from defacing pages, remove malicious or inappropriate content, prevent unauthorized publishing workflow, and address compliance requirements.

For additional information on Proofpoint social media solutions, please visit http://nexgate.com/products/overview/.

About Proofpoint, Inc.

Proofpoint Inc. (NASDAQ:PFPT) is a leading next-generation security and compliance company that provides cloud-based solutions for comprehensive threat protection, incident response, secure communications, social media and mobile security, compliance, archiving and governance. Organizations around the world depend on Proofpoint's expertise, patented technologies and on-demand delivery system. Proofpoint protects against phishing, malware and spam, while safeguarding privacy, encrypting sensitive information, and archiving and governing messages and critical enterprise information. More information is available at www.proofpoint.com. 

Proofpoint, SocialPatrol and SocialDiscover are registered trademarks of Proofpoint, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: MEDIA CONTACT:
         Patricia Hogan
         Proofpoint, Inc.
         408-763-3863
         [email protected]