Using Instant Messaging services is a 'must' for everybody that has set eyes on a computer. Faster than anything else and less expensive at that, this type of service has caught on big time with all those tech-savvy. Because of that, the attention of hackers has turned on them and attacks have been increasing in numbers via the IM platforms.

Last July, Akronix, a vendor of messaging security systems found that in the previous year, the number of threats was up with 78 percent. Only this January, they found 14 new attacks and despite the number being low, their viciousness has grown extremely, up to the point that one type, dubbed Perin, installs a backdoor server on the machines it infects. So far, it has been going only over the MSN and AIM platforms, but at the rate things are evolving, other users won't be safe for long. It is spreading via a link on the two mentioned above, so if you're constantly using one or both, be sure to check if you know the person you receive links from.

The chain reaction that one malicious download can start is almost commendable, were it not used for ill purposes. One wrong click and you will have downloaded one program without knowing, and that, in turn, starts downloading similarly malicious software.

Akonix's Vice President of Marketing told PCWorld that two-stage attacks are now in fashion, having as second stage the downloading of a Trojan that will wait for users to login to their banking sites before activating a keylogger. Something equally 'hot' is the receiving of malware via e-mail, or IM, and its propagation via the other.

Safety warnings are common ground for all the IM services, despite them being in competition with each other. This is the time you should take heed, or else�