Spammers are testing other waters, such as instant messaging and mobile phone text messaging, as well.
Judge estimates that 10 percent of instant messaging traffic is spam. “It is where e-mail traffic was several years ago,” he says, adding that IM spam is likely to become even more ubiquitous as online messaging networks become interoperable (Microsoft and Yahoo, for example, have announced plans to allow their IM users to communicate with each other). The growing availability of IM services on cell phones will make instant messaging even more appealing to spammers–and vulnerable to viruses spread by spam, warns IMlogic, a messaging security firm.
