The sorry state of IM security

I RECENTLY WROTE about a "friend" of mine who got hit with an IM bug. It was quick, painful, and pretty much fit the definition of "as much fun as a sharp stick in the eye."

Apparently my friend is not alone. The IMlogic Threat Center, a global consortium that provides threat detection and protection for IM and peer-to-peer (p-to-p) applications, recently issued its second quarter 2005 report on the rise of IM security threats.

Launched with the support of the Internet security vendors Symantec, Sybari Software, and McAfee and the IM providers America Online, Microsoft, and Yahoo, the IMlogic Threat Center is a knowledge base for known IM and p-to-p vulnerabilities and provides rapid response and guidance for protection against newly detected threats.

So how much have IM threats increased over the past year? How does 2,747 per cent grab you?

The report says there has been a "sharp" (there's an underwhelming adjective) 2,747 per cent increase in new IM threats — including viruses, worms, SPIM (spam over IM), malware, and phishing attacks ? in second quarter 2005, compared with the same period a year ago. IMlogic also issued more than 15 priority alerts to enterprises and IMlogic Threat Center subscribers in second quarter 2005 in response to the increasing frequency of reported IM threats. Sounds like a busy quarter at the Threat Center.