Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    IM Watching You

    By
    eWEEK EDITORS
    -
    April 23, 2001
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Users have a strong tendency to place unwarranted trust in the privacy and integrity of online communications. Users regularly e-mail sensitive information that they would never commit to paper—a problem businesses often first come to grips with when their e-mails are subpoenaed in court. Instant messaging (IM) takes that phenomenon to an even greater extreme. The technology conveys a sense of private conversation, and as a result people often use IM for informal discussions of extremely sensitive issues.

      Perceptions aside, IM systems are very insecure as a rule. By default, IM servers relay messages unencrypted back to the sender, as well as on to the recipient(s). That results in the general broadcast of all sides of an IM-based conversation throughout the typical hub-based network, a target for anyone curious enough to download free packet-sniffing software off the Web. IM discussions over the public Internet are even more vulnerable. Moreover, almost every IM client will log sessions to a simple text file as a default; such log files are easy and valuable targets for snoops, intruders and subpoenas. Finally, IM systems often use rudimentary authentication protocols, making IM “spoofing” a trivial task for a determined attacker.

      Luckily, there are a number of effective defensive techniques. Most in-house IM systems support message encryption via SSL. Such encryption can make a potential eavesdroppers task tremendously difficult, but it requires a full-blown PKI implementation and all the costs and hassles that go with it. Security of that technique, moreover, depends on preventing the theft or unauthorized use of SSL certificates, which can prove very difficult when attacks originate inside your organization.

      Another option for encryption is an “internal VPN,” such as PGP Inc.s PGPnet. That technique encrypts all traffic between specific hosts—including IM traffic—and may provide more flexibility in administration and key management. In that case, however, ease of use may come at the expense of network performance and occasional interoperability problems.

      Some IMs support client-based encryption plug-ins. Those tools provide security and performance benefits by removing the server from the encryption process, but they often lack administrative tools.

      Unfortunately, theres little a system administrator can do to prevent the insecure logging of IM conversations. Unless needed, IM logging should be strongly discouraged; whenever possible, clients should be distributed with logging functions disabled. If necessary, encrypt the IM logs.

      As always, use strong passwords and prevent or discourage auto-log-in features. Encryption can greatly strengthen the authentication process, but a client with stored credentials is vulnerable to anyone with physical access to its host machine—a serious problem in most office environments.

      eWEEK EDITORS
      eWeek editors publish top thought leaders and leading experts in emerging technology across a wide variety of Enterprise B2B sectors. Our focus is providing actionable information for today’s technology decision makers.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×