[access-uk] Re: Instant messaging spam
- From: "Justin R" <mypc128@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 17:43:28 +0100
Hi Barry,
yeah, i caught this article today and found it interesting. For years, I've
heard about strangers coming onto IM clients, acting like spammers as if it
was a common thing. However, I've never had any stranger come onto my msn
and do this. So, I wonder how they can find out your IM details as, it's
like finding out your e-mail details.
Justin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Barry" <bbinc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004 4:51 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Instant messaging spam
> Hi all
> This article might be interesting to those of you who use instant
messaging:
>
> BBC NEWS | Technology | Messaging spam heads for your PC
> By Phil Elliott
> BBC Radio Five Live
>
> As internet firms are doing all they can to combat junk e-mail, a new form
of virtual irritation is emerging.
>
> Called "spim", it is similar in design to spam.
>
> But instead of attacking your inbox, it works through instant messaging
(IM) services.
>
> It is thought that "spimmers" have developed the idea because of the
attention-grabbing nature of IM, and the increasingly effective spam filters
that specialist
> companies have developed.
>
> Research firm the Radicati Group estimates that 582 billion instant
messages were sent in 2003.
>
> The US-based technology analysts expect the amount of spim sent to
increase to 1.2 billion messages this year, up from 400 million in 2003.
>
> Just talk
>
> Most people use IM to talk quickly and informally to friends and
colleagues.
>
> So there are fears that some people may be taken in by the spim messages
because they think they are being directed to certain websites by people
they know.
>
> In fact, the messages are generated automatically, in a very similar way
to spam.
>
> With instant messaging, if I wanted to send you a piece of pornography,
I'd have to send it as an attachment for you to download and open
> Alyn Hockey, Clearswift
> Once the program is written and run, all the spimmer has to do is wait and
see if anybody responds.
>
> It is a very low maintenance method of sending out junk messages as the
system is automated.
>
> Even if a tiny fraction of people fall for the spim, it can be a very
lucrative business.
>
> However spim itself it not particularly dangerous on its own, according to
Alyn Hockey, technical director at internet security firm Clearswift.
>
> In an interview with Radio Five Live's Up All Night he played down the
threat of spam via IM.
>
> "It's not really as dangerous as spam," he said. "With spim, it tends to
be more of an annoyance."
>
> This, he says is because IM protects you from the immediacy of, for
instance, a pornographic e-mail which could portray an offensive image
immediately upon
> being opened.
>
> "With instant messaging, if I wanted to send you a piece of pornography,
I'd have to send it as an attachment for you to download and open."
>
> This requirement to download any attachments offers a degree of
protection. That is also why spim is not a credible threat when it comes to
viruses either.
>
> Simple advice
>
> It is hoped that messaging services will act before spim spirals out of
control.
>
> "There are products being created to help control this," said Mr Hockey.
>
> "The manufacturers will have improved the software to eradicate it before
it really becomes an epidemic."
>
> For now, people using IM should be wary and follow some simple advice.
>
> "Don't accept connections from people you don't know, don't download
attachments from people you don't know; and keep your anti-virus software
and operating
> system up-to-date," said Mr Hockey.
>
> The full interview can be heard in Talking Technology, on Monday 23 August
on Radio Five Live at 2:30am
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/3581148.stm
>
> Published: 2004/08/22 07:41:10 GMT
>
> © BBC MMIV
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