The Hindu Business Line : Beware of the SPIM googly

SPIM, the short form for `Spam over instant messaging', is usually a one-line sentence that pops up when you are engaged in instant messaging such as chatting.

It is estimated that such intrusive, unsolicited messages would triple to 1.2 billion in 2004, from 400 million last year, according to The Radicati Group, a US-based IT market consultancy.

The New Scientist says that SPIM, though much lesser in number compared to Spam, is growing three times faster.

The growing popularity of instant messaging platforms, as they became technologically advanced for playing online games and conducting Web conferences, is the reason why SPIMs proliferate.

As much as 70 per cent SPIM is related to pornography. Get rich schemes, products sales and loans/finance related messages also come in the form of SPIM, says the Radicati Group in a presentation sent to Business Line. SPIM spreads through Internet chat rooms. Some spimmers also use software code that is similar to those in computer viruses.

Though it is more intrusive than spam, SPIM can be controlled internally through corporate networks. Corporations can implement authentication and security features to keep SPIM out of their networks. Due to the lack of interoperability, it is easier to control SPIM, the Radicati Group says.

Also, by keeping a `buddy-list' and chatting with only those in the list will also help keeping spimmers at bay.

Yahoo! and AOL have introduced tools that help users avoid SPIMs. For instance, Yahoo! has an invisible mode feature that enables users to sing onto a chat session without being visible to public.