Four ways to secure IM - #63

IM and P2P exploits are on the up, so further to my blog entry #55 which details why these exploits are proliferating, we now look at ways of addressing this since in many instances turning it off altogether is not an option.

This week, attackers targeted the American Online and Yahoo instant messaging services with worms. The Yahoo worm attempted to trick users into giving up their usernames and passwords. The AOL worm tried to download malicious code to the user's PC. More seriously, in April, Reuters shut down its instant messaging service due to the Kelvir IM worm, while in February, Microsoft shut down its MSN Messenger service due to vulnerabilities in its client.

This article looks in detail at four ways to protect against this namely:

1. Don't Use Consumer IM
2. User An Internal Server If Possible
3. Address the Human Element
4. Use Multiple Layers Of Protection

Expect the fortunes of companies such as BlueCoat, FaceTime, IMLogic and Akonix to look more rosy in the future...