Chapter 2 - AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)

Abstract

The chapter discusses America Online (AOL) Instant Messenger (AIM). There are multiple types of security issues affecting AIM, and they fall into the categories of data leakage, social engineering, malicious code, and client vulnerabilities. Data leakage involves the distribution of sensitive information to others outside of an organization. Social engineering is another security issue that is faced by users of instant messaging software. One cannot identify who is at the other end of a conversation; one can only go by their user name registered on the system. Names that are slightly different from an acquaintance or appear to be from a certain company may be able to obtain password, credit card, or other information. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended that no confidential information be disclosed over an instant messaging session, especially if the session is not encrypted. It is also recommended not to save password on the AIM client; this can prevent an unauthorized use of your client, so a malicious user who has access to a workstation may not sign into the AIM network and masquerade as you. The greatest danger of instant messaging clients is the unregulated spread of malicious code. Instant messaging clients are able to bypass firewalls, uniform resource locator (URL) filtering devices, or other safeguards to protect and secure a network.