Instant messaging security attacks soar 2,700%

The threat of new instant messaging security attacks to enterprises has rocketed 2,700% in the second quarter of the year, according to instant messaging security researcher IMlogic.

During the second quarter IMlogic issued 15 priority IM security alerts to enterprises and says it tracked more than 540 new IM security threats in the wild.

IMlogic said corporate environments were being increasingly targeted and that businesses had to prepare for and defend against such threats.

IMlogic said 70% of reported infections from IM malware it tracked affected enterprises using popular IM applications such as AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, Windows Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger. 

The increasing IM threat is one reason why some companies have attempted to stop employees using instant messaging altogether, despite its popularity among disparate sales and marketing teams, among others.