Instant-Messaging Attacks On the Rise

Ant writes "CNET News.com and ZDNet News report that security attacks over instant-messaging (IM) networks became more prevalent in 2005, according to a new study. MSN experienced the largest number of IM security incidents in both 2004 and 2005, while year-on-year incident growth rates were largest on AIM."

Comments

Am I the only one who hasn't noticed it?

[peragrin]

I have not seen any such attacks when using my normal IM software. I am constantly connected to AIM but I never recieve such problems. It might have to do with the fact that I use Fire/iChat, or Kopete/Gaim.

Maybe because my IM client doesn't download and run activeX ads I don't have such problems. The AIM client for Windows doesn't like running in restricted user modes or restricted IE settings on any machine i have installed it on.

So I would say it's not so much IM problems but more of the same IE/ActiveX security issues that continually plague the world that uses that crap.

Just don't use their client

[endrue]

It is too bad that people are not aware of applications like gaim, trillian, etc. You get all the benefits and fewer risks (not to mention that you avoid all the bolted-on crap that comes with all the default clients).

We use MSN Messenger at my work and everyone uses the MSN client. Has anyone seen this embarrasment? There is so much crap tacked around the buddy and message windows that it is almost unusable. I am trying to move people over to trillian and it is not hard. Once they see a nice clean UI, they want to use it.

I guess its time to start educating the masses!

Re:Just don't use their client

[Xrikcus]

Most people I know (and I mean most, including the geeks - one ex hardcore linux user) prefer the msn client to gaim and so on. They've used gaim and similar clients, they've made the effort, and gone back to the msn client.

I'm not really sure why... but that is the case.

Re:IRC, you say?...

[ZiakII]

Rly? ... cuz my m8 got 0wned by this hacker on AIM. Posted about it on his myspace account if u wanna read it. u think i should tell him 2 go 2 IRC? r ther no hackers there? I'll tell him i heard its saf3r, k? cuz I heard they can get ur IP number on AIM & not on IRC, that true 2?

OMGZ I just pwned some guy yesterday mebe it was u?, haha what a n00b he told me his IP was 127.0.0.1 and I used some 1337 program to pwn his comp and now I have full permission to do it, I think I'll start deleteing his files. LOLZ!

IM virus protection

[192939495969798999]

I'm not susceptible to IM viruses, ever since my friend X_Cindy_X_12345 IM'd me with this link to a special program I had to install. It prevents any kind of issue with the(##*@JN#IN#F____+++ NO CARRIER

Mobile phones

[Rob T Firefly]

This is going to cause more and more of a problem not just for Joe Average PC user, but for the growing numbers of people with IM capability on their mobile phones and other devices, where using a clean third-party client is not an option, and where many plans still charge by the message.

Re:Simple Fix

[Phisbut]

When is a patch going to come out for this problem, it seems to have been plaguing the net for quite some.

We've been trying to patch human beings for quite a while now, but they just don't seem to stand still. We'll get to it though.