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Microsoft Messenger Virus Hits Reuters IM

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the irc-cowers-in-fear dept.

steman writes "Reuters had to temporarily shut down its private instant messaging service after being targetted by the W32/Kelvir-Re trojan. Reuters Messaging is implemented with Microsoft messenger technology and has more than 60,000 users. When activated, the Kelvir trojan sends itself to all users contacts via email and IM. Francis deSouza, chief executive of computer security provider IMLogic, said 'It just generated a flood of instant messages, so it suddenly slowed down the network for legitimate traffic. This is certainly a wake-up call, IM is just like any other communication media. The media needs to go hand-in-hand with security.'"

6 of 275 comments (clear)

  1. Yahoo! IM by G1aucon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's too bad there isn't more adoption of YIM. In terms interface and usability, it far outranks AIM or MS.

    Does anyone know why Yahoo! has had a hard time catching on? Is it just a diffusion effect? E.g., if all your friends have AIM, you have to use AIM, too?

  2. AOL,Yahoo & MS by goombah99 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    so does AOL and yahoo also have these sorts of breeches from time to time? or is this just another MS exclusive?

    Not trying to flame here but there is always this raging debate on whether MS is the brand for those desiring insecure solutions or if its just a matter of size making it a media of exponential viral growth. We have one key data point which is that its' web server technology gets hacked more than say, Apache. It's important since Apache is as big as MS in that, neutralizing partly the size issue (al beit Apache is less homgenous than MS server so it's not perfect)

    Now we have an IM data point. This is more interesting since here we do have three homgenous IM sources of large size AOL, MS and Yahoo. So I wonder how often these other brands get hacked. Anyone know?

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:AOL,Yahoo & MS by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Ok...let me get this straight....

      Linux and Apple don't get hacked because nobody uses them, and IIS6 doesn't get hacked because it's secure by default?

      But Windows gets hacked because of it's high marketshare, right?
      So what's the difference between Apache and Windows?

      --
      "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
  3. Jabber anyone? by tabo_peru · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm running a jabberd2 server in my company with lots of users with no problems at all. It is free, stable and has a plethora of clients for all major platforms.

    Is there a _serious_ msn-im feature that jabber lacks?

  4. "Reuters Messenging" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Is "Messenging" a real word?

  5. Apache vs IIS: The Facts by I'm+Don+Giovanni · · Score: 2, Interesting
    We have one key data point which is that its' web server technology gets hacked more than say, Apache. It's important since Apache is as big as MS in that, neutralizing partly the size issue (al beit Apache is less homgenous than MS server so it's not perfect)
    Since 2003, IIS 6.0 has had exactly 3 security adviseries verses Apache's 22 in the same time period:
    IIS6 adviseries http://secunia.com/product/1438/
    Apache 2.0 adviseries: http://secunia.com/product/73/

    So, what "data point" are you talking about?
    --
    -- "I never gave these stories much credence." - HAL 9000