Instant Messaging Attacks Increased 826 Percent over December 2004

The IMlogic Threat Center last week announced that IM security threats increased by 826 percent in December 2005 versus December 2004. As the number of threats grow and the rate of mutations increase, the risks posed by these threats are increasingly linked to significant financial damage and intellectual property loss. Attackers are progressively using rootkit software to hide the process, files and registry keys for the software used in their attacks. Notable threats this month include the myspace, "talking worm" and the much publicized Santa worm. These worms cap a quarter and a year that has seen unprecedented growth in IM threats and a rapid increase in the level of sophistication in techniques used by their creators.

The Center released the following statistics highlighting the increasing threat level to business and consumer users of IM applications:

Threat Analysis:

• IM threats in December 2005 increased 826 percent over December 2004
• IM threats in December 2005 grew by an additional 241 threats; adding to more than 300 for November 2005 and 292 in October 2005
• In December 2005, 41 percent of new threats targeted AOL Instant Messenger, with 48 percent targeting MSN and 11 percent targeting Yahoo!
• Worms made up 87 percent of new threats with viruses at 12 percent and phishing attacks over IM at one percent
• First talking "intelligent" worm identified (IM.Myspace04.AIM).

This monthly report reinforces the findings of the IMlogic Threat Center Q3 2005 report, which detailed a 2,000 percent increase in reported attacks during the first nine months of the year. The Fourth Quarter 2005 grew 12 percent over Q3 2005. Q4 2005 also grew 1300 percent as compared to the same quarter in 2004.

Addressing the IM Security Dilemma
The latest release of threat data reinforces the fact that traditional anti-virus software is not sufficient to protect against the rapid mutation and spread of the latest IM security threats. Traditional anti-virus products rely on known threat signatures to protect organizations, often racing to release a signature after an outbreak has already been identified. The rapid proliferation of IM threats makes them increasingly more difficult for traditional reactive security approaches to keep pace. The inherent real-time nature of IM combined with the latest trend of increasingly destructive IM threats highlights the urgency for which specialized, proactive IM threat protections are needed.

"The growth in the level of sophistication and the advanced nature of the malware payloads such as root kits and information gathering agents sends a signal to IM users that IM security is no longer a 'nice to have' technology," said IMlogic Chief Technology Officer Jon Sakoda. "This rise in complexity and destructive nature of the threats requires organizations and individuals to put in place more adequate protections."