IM Problems

I was told that Instant Messengers can be a security risk, that viruses etc. are common with using them. Does anyone have valid information on this? If so, please provide links to web sites if you have any. Thanks

 

I'll try to dig some more specific links on security vulnerabilities with Instant Messaging programs, but there is some general information I can give you.

Many instant messaging programs are closed source. As such, there has not been a large group combing through the source and fixing security vulnerabilities that may have been overlooked by the original programmers (but I won't get into the closed vs. open source argument here).

Significant vulnerabilities continue to be discovered in instant messaging programs. AOL Instant Messenger has had its share of security problems, including buffer overruns and ways that people on your "buddy list" could crash AIM. ICQ has also had a large share of significant security issues, but it also has the most sharing/extra features.

Not to mention that the latest versions of AIM and ICQ are rather bloated.

There's much more information to find on the net, but this will hopefully get you started on what to look for. Searching for "AIM buffer overflow" in Google gives pages and pages of results.

Hope this helps.

-Javacool

P.S. Viruses are typically only a risk with Instant Messaging programs if you accept files from other users or have file sharing turned on.

 

Javacool, thanks for the info. on this. Also thanks for MRU Blaster & Spywareblaster too. Great work, I really like how well MRU Blaster works, it's quick & easy. And that's great for the users like me who are not all that computer literate.

 

If you are using an IM program everyday like i do (ICQ) you may want to note that Bitdefender makes free AV programs for just about every IM proggy out there. Mine for ICQ is updated very often, seems eevry other day or so. This is a small application and all it does is scan any file I transfer from another user. I trade files a lot with teammates from multiplayer games and to be honest ICQ file transfer is one of the fastest methods I have ever seen. Anyway; the bitdefender for ICQ catches anything nasty incoming before its on my machine and has to be caught by my regular AV program. I like the double layer it provides even though all I ever caught so far was one of those "joke" system crash viruses.

 

Detox, thanks for the reply. I will have to check out Bitdefender. I rather be safe than sorry, having had a bad experience with viruses before.