Instant Messaging: The New Frontier for Hackers

Posted by Ken

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Instant Messaging is the undiscovered territory for hackers

Like moths to light, virus writers are attracted to the playground known as Instant Messaging. The reason is because it is largely an unprotected area of the Internet. And because antivirus programs do not monitor it, it’s an easy sell for hackers.

Why the attraction? It’s because IM operates on a P2P network, or what is more commonly known as a file-sharing network. This type of network is based on industry standard protocols which are open to the public. With such low security it’s no wonder hackers are hungry to capitalize on its vulnerabilities.

Since IM is available on cell phones, computers and pager-like devices, there is no shortage of ways to exploit your device of choice. By inserting a trojan horse on say, your computer, hackers can reconfigure it to keep you out, delete files, all without you knowing it. They could also send your personal files to themselves for further exploitation, like selling it to the highest bidder.

Tools exists that “sniff” data packets coming into and out of your computer. This allows them to listen in on your IM conversations. So what was once thought of as a private conversation may not be so private.

So what do you do? Stop using IM all together? Not necessarily. You could look into using a Voice Over Internet Phone (VoIP) service that uses non-industry standard protocols and has some form of security in place. Check out free-pc-phone.com or Skype.

Internet Safety