Chat Safe Online
Instant Messaging Resource Center for Concerned Kids and Parents
Providing help and support for users of the world's most popular IM clients: MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), ICQ, Trillian...
Chat Safe Online supports the responsible use of Instant Messenger and Internet chat services
Welcome to the world of secure Instant Messaging!
IM Security
Instant Messaging is taking over the world! Applications such as AIM, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger have seen their popularity soar over recent years, with the trend set to continue long into the future. Over 70% of America’s Internet users already declare themselves devotees of this powerful new medium, in many cases logging on several times a day to chat and check their buddies’ away messages. Uptake is even higher among the young: 90% of 12-21-year-olds use instant messaging technology, with IM outstripping e-mail use in this age group.
Once regarded as little more than a plaything of gossiping tweens and teenagers, IM has quickly developed into an important communications tool, used in all kinds of social and professional environments. Fans of the technology range from grade school kids to college professors and business execs, making IM the global medium of the moment. Indeed, an entire culture has grown up around it!
The Instant Messenger phenomenon owes much to the inherent qualities of the technology involved: IM is fast, free and multi-featured, combining the privacy of e-mail with the immediacy of chat rooms. Users can chat in real-time to anyone, anywhere in the online universe, with file-share, game playing and audio / video streaming among the many additional attractions. Not only that, but the customizable features of most messaging clients give IM-ers a much-valued opportunity to express themselves online.
So what’s not to love?!
…Well, a little! By their very nature, Instant Messengers carry risks. The focus on convenience means that most popular IM systems lack the security features needed to protect home computers and the users of these machines. Instant messaging is fundamentally a form of peer-to-peer technology which increases vulnerability to attacks from hackers, viruses, Trojans, worms and spyware. There is also a specific privacy threat deriving from the way instant messages are transmitted in clear text, using insecure protocols and non-standard TCP Ports that can allow them to bypass some firewalls and virus scanners.
Even more worrying for parents is the role of Instant Messaging in the online abuse of children and teenagers – America’s fastest-growing crime. Cyber Predators pose a serious threat to young Internet users, with over 90% of victims targeted through chat rooms or Instant Messenger applications. Unless specialist parental monitoring software is installed on a user’s PC, IM exchanges are private and as such entirely unmoderated; the technology offers an attractive combination of intimacy and anonymity that can be easily exploited by online pedophiles who look to gain the confidence of vulnerable kids by posing as like-minded teenagers. The startling rise of so-called cyberbullying can also be attributed in large part to the explosion in IM use.
IM Security has never been a more pressing issue. At Chat Safe Online, we aim to provide a comprehensive guide to safe instant messaging, introducing a variety of IM security solutions including parental control tools designed to help parents monitor their kids’ IM use. Visitors can learn how to keep hackers and malware at bay with IM-friendly anti-virus software, and get the 411 on "chat speak" and the latest messaging fashions with our in-depth feature on IM culture.
Whether you’re a Messenger-crazy kid or a concerned parent, we hope you find all the information you need at the web’s ultimate messaging resource. Stay safe and enjoy instant messaging with Chat Safe Online!
TopIf you have an questions or queries about Chat Safe Online services, we'd love to hear them. Please follow this link to use the form provided or contact us on:
+44 (0) 870 050 012.
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