Spam Gradually Transforming into Spim

According to security specialists, while viruses and worms traditionally infected files and e-mails in computers, today computer systems can be attacked via IM.

Like ordinary spam, IM spam or 'spim' also includes unsolicited e-mails dispatched through instant messaging. The new spam can be utilized for enticing unwitting users to visit websites that craftily gather personal information.

Threats commonly used by IM comprise identity mimicking, privacy intrusion, password stealing, etc.

Meanwhile, Symantec, the Internet security company, states that malware distributed via IM increased from 3% in 2007 to 4% in 2008.

Shantanu Ghosh, VP, India Product Operations, Symantec, has said that security of IM was initially not very important as it was then used for only social messaging. But now IM is being increasingly used in business, and attackers find that many IM systems are literally without any protection. Consequently, attacks against the service are rapidly rising, as reported by Business Standard on August 20, 2009.

Junk IMs or Spim are steadily increasing. These messages have badly chosen images like pornographic images, which could unexpectedly emerge on a PC screen. At times, the messages seemingly arrive from a contest or bank although they are from online crooks, who with their tricks get users to reveal their financial and personal information.

Moreover, just as viruses, worms and trojans infect e-mails, similarly these malware can contaminate IM software as well. When this occurs in the absence of a user's knowledge, the same infection passes on to that user's friends via instant messages. Thus, the malicious programs can slow down the IM software, crash the PC or compromise a system to be used for illegal activities like hacking, identity fraud, etc.

In spite of having protection, IM service providers have embraced fresh measures to counter undesirable spam, enabling the service to be popularly used by Internet users.

Nonetheless, according to experts, organizations can take several steps to make their IM environment more secure such as educating employees, encrypting IM chats, and implementing company policies for the right utilization of IM, apart from installing antivirus software and desktop firewalls.

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» SPAMfighter News - 9/5/2009