Spim is another new spamming technique, the difference in this case being that the spam is delivered through Instant Messaging rather than email. It�s not as common as email spam. According to a report from Ferris Research, 500 million IM spam were sent in 2003, twice the level of 2002. As it becomes more common, spim could affect businesses in the same way that email spam does now, creating security problems and costing time and money.

IM�s got some real advantages for spammers. It�s immediate, so users are more likely to reflexively click on links. IM also bypasses anti-virus software and firewalls, making it not only an easy way to pass on commercial messages, but also viruses and other malicious software.

One way to protect yourself from spim is to block messages from anyone not on your buddy list, or to only allow messages from contacts on a permission list.

SPIT

Spit stands for Spam over Internet Telephony. It�s essentially like spam email, only rather than getting unwanted messages in your inbox, they�re left on your voicemail. It can happen if you�re using a phone connected to the Internet, something more and more people are choosing to do.

Although marketers already use voice mail for commercial messages, IP telephony makes a more effective channel because the sender can send messages in bulk rather than dial each number separately. Internet phones are often mapped to telephone numbers, but each has an IP address as well. Unscrupulous marketers can use spambots to harvest VoIP addresses or may hack into a computer used to route VoIP calls. And, because calls routed over IP are much more difficult to trace, there�s a far greater potential for fraud.

SPIT isn�t much of a problem yet, simply because IP telephony is not used by many people. But as more people choose to use IP telephony, it will become more and more attractive to spammers.

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