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Instant Messenger Security: Top 3 Attacks

For businesses who use an instant messenger to communicate, there are a few VERY impornt instant messenger security tips you should know about. Believe it or not there are actually people out there whose sole occupation is attacking businesses for the purpose of either gleaning useful information or even hijacking your company servers.

1. The friendly file
Many different file formats can execute scripts on your computer. Microsoft’s Excel is an excellent example: an attacker simply sends your employee an Excel file telling them it is a quote or information they need. Your employee then opens the file, which looks normal, and at that point it’s too late.

2. Asking the right questions 
Sometimes trust is built and employees unwittingly give away information they should not be sharing. This can be as mild as sharing company email and phone information that is not public or as lethal as discussing vital security policy information. You’d be surprised what your employees might be willing to share.

3. Stealing passwords  
This is less common because of the training most people receive, but password stealing does still occur. This happens most often when the attacker poses as internal staff or even when the attacker just builds trust and asks the right questions in the right way. 

All of these security threats are beatable with a simple solution: enterprise instant messaging. When you control who has access to your employees, you naturally limit the ability of attackers to communicate through instant messaging.

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