Mohammad Mannan
Instant Messaging (IM) is a type of communications service over the Internet that enables individuals to exchange text messages and track availability of a list of users in real-time. Public IM systems are widely popular, and yet the vast majority of users are largely ignorant of the dangers associated with IM. We study the popular IM protocols, security features and threats to existing IM networks and how currently available systems fail to provide adequate security in light of existing threats. Our goal is to initiate more substantial discussions in the academic community on how to alleviate the IM threats, so that secure IM protocols and necessary security mechanisms are developed to better mitigate presently known and probable future threats.