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IM Threats Skyrocket Over The Past Year
Chris Crum
Staff Writer
2005-12-01
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Instant Message threats are growing at an alarming rate. A report from the IMlogic Threat Center says that IM security threats have increased by a whopping 3,266 percent from November 2004 to November 2005.
"The rate of IM threat mutations combined with increasingly sophisticated payloads such as spyware and information gathering agents clearly indicates that IM threats are now being created by attackers focused on organized cyber-crime," said IMlogic CTO Jon Sakoda.
Other findings released by the IMlogic Threat center include: - IM threats in November increased to more than 300 unique instances, compared with 292 in October 2005 and 203 in September 2005;
- In November, 52 percent of new threats targeted AOL Instant Messenger, with 27 percent targeting MSN and 21 percent targeting Yahoo.
- Nine of the top 10 IM threats exhibited mutations during the month of November;
- With 128 total mutations and detection on all the major IM networks, Kelvir was the leader in IM threat mutations, followed by Bropia with 29 mutations and Opanki with 25 mutations;
- Traditional e-mail worms continue to migrate towards IM, with five of the six most mutated worms demonstrating IM mutations in November.
"This rise in complexity highlights the breadth and depth of the overall IM security risk, causing organizations to recognize the need for best-of-breed threat protection for real-time communications," said Sakota.
About the Author:
Chris Crum is a staff writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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