As instant messaging catches on in the work and educational environment, the bad guys are in close pursuit. Spim (spam for IM) is coming to a computer near you. In fact, a report from the Radicati Group, a technology marketing research firm, projects that spim will grow from 5 percent of IM traffic in 2004 to 39 percent by 2008.
IM has been around for several years, used widely for personal communications. The Radicati Group estimates that it is now used in 85% of U.S. businesses, too. When Scott Library designed our software profile for the Library's public computers, AOL Instant Messenger was one of the packages included. IM gets heavy use on the Jefferson campus.
So are you likely to see spim in your IM? Information Week compared the incidence of spim to plain email spam recently: 500 million spim solicitations vs. 800 billion spam messages in 2003. So, by comparison, spim is just a drop in the bucket.
It's also harder to send spim across wide groups, because networks like AOL IM and MSN Messenger don't interact. At least they don't so far.
But if there is anything we know about spammers, it is that they are creative and persistent. Incidents of spim doubled from 2002 to 2003, and IM software providers are talking about ways to become compatible. So don't be surprised when (not if) you see your first spim.
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