Rival IM security firm Akonix, which also released attack data on Tuesday, said that the increase from September to October was only 19 percent, but confirmed that several new threat trends were developing, including the tweaking of the long-running Sdbot Trojan to attack IM networks.
That Sdbot variant, in fact, was the focus last week of a warning issued by FaceTime, yet another IM security software provider. FaceTime alerted users that Sdbot.add posed a special danger because it included a rootkit that tried to disguise the presence of the malicious code from anti-virus software.
"That's not really new," claimed IMlogic's Gilliland. "Since early October we've been seeing IM threats armed with rootkits. In general, rootkits are the way that aggressive spyware is spreading itself via IM."
What with the rising numbers of IM attacks and the notoriously rapid spread of instant messaging worms, some experts think it's only a matter of time before an automated exploit knocks out hundreds of thousands of computers.
Current IM exploits all require some sort of user interaction -- generally clicking on a link embedded in a bogus message supposedly sent by a trusted "buddy" -- but it's possible to automate the attack, much like network worms such as Slammer and Sasser required no human interaction to wreak their havoc.
"It's not something I've seen, but I think it will," said Gilliland. "For one thing, the clients themselves are automatable. MSN and AOL's have keystroke macros to automate themselves, so I can see the possibility of viruses that take over the client and run it."
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