SLAM IM SPAM The Annoyance: I'm chatting with my daughter using AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). Suddenly, I get an instant message from Debby from Dallas, who has some not-so-kosher home videos she wants to sell me for $49.99. How can I stop this kind of stuff? The Fix: IM spam has become an unfortunate way of life. Here's how to stop it in the major instant messaging programs:
AIM Click the Prefs button at the bottom of the AIM screen, then choose Privacy. In the "Who can contact me" section (see Figure 7-1), select "Allow only users on my Buddy List" and click OK. That means any instant message from anyone not on your Buddy List will automatically be blocked, and you won't get any more IM spam. You can also block specific people from reaching you, block everyone from reaching you, and tap several other privacy-related options. Figure 7-1. To stop spam in AIM, block anyone not on your Buddy List from sending you instant messages. 
Yahoo! Messenger To allow messages only from people on your Messenger list, go to Messenger  Preferences  Ignore list, choose "Ignore anyone who is not on my Messenger list," and click OK. Alternatively, you can opt to ignore specific people: choose "Ignore only the people below," and add them to the list.
To restrict who can send you messages, choose Tools Options Privacy, highlight "All other users in the My Allow List," click Block, then click OK. The "All other users entry will be moved to the My Block List, so only your buddies can send you instant messages.
ICQ Lite To set your privacy level in ICQ Lite, choose Main Spam Control. For maximum privacy, check the "Accept messages only from users on my Contact List box. If you don't check that box, you can still filter out spam: in the "Not in List Messages" area, check both the "Apply ICQ Anti-Spam filter when receiving messages from users not in my Contact List" box and the "Display the 'Accept Messages' dialog when receiving messages from users not in my Contact List" box. You should also check the "Do not accept World Wide Pager Messages" and "Do not accept Email Express Messages" boxes. Click OK when you're done. Is That Spim or Spam? You know what spam is. But do you know about spim? It's the name some use for IM spam, and its use is skyrocketing. According to the research firm Ferris Research, an estimated 1 billion spims were sent in 2003, up fourfold from 2002. An estimated 4 billion spims will be sent in 2004. |
DUELING WINDOWS MESSENGER SPAMS When it comes to instant messaging, Microsoft has done everything in its power to confuse the worldafter all, it has two separate instant messaging programs, Windows Messenger and MSN Messenger, which are kind of the same but also kind of different. To make matters worse, there's also the Windows Messenger Service, which is another beast entirely. It's not an instant messaging program, but it is responsible for some of the most annoying spam on the planet. The Windows Messenger Service was originally designed for network administrators to send text-based messages over a network, such as "Network coming down in 15 minutes!" Unfortunately, spammers have used it to blast out millions of spams to poor, unsuspecting souls. For more about the Windows Messenger Service and how to turn it off, see "Kill the Windows Messenger Service" in Chapter 9. |
GET ALL-AROUND IM PROTECTION The Annoyance: My biggest IM gripe? No matter how hard I try to keep up-to-date, my IM program will always be vulnerable to viruses, Trojans, people stealing my personal information, and worse. Should I just give up on IM for good? The Fix: Not at all. The threats you list affect email and any PC connected to the Net, not just IM programs. For IM users, the best all-around protector you can get is IMsecure Pro, from firewall maker ZoneLabs (see Figure 7-2). It protects you from a wide variety of IM attacks, such as so-called "buffer overflow attacks" that can be used to crash your system or install malware on it, Trojans, dangerous executable links, and more. It can also prevent your personal information from being sent out, and it lets you block specific features (such as file transfers) in different IM apps. IMsecure is available from http://www.imsecure.com. There's a free version, but it only protects against buffer overflow attacks. For full protection, you'll need the Pro version. You can try IMsecure Pro for free for 15 days; after that, you'll have to pay $39.95 to keep it. Note that it works with AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger, and Trillian, but not with ICQ. Figure 7-2. IMsecure offers the best all-around IM protection. 
SEND TEXT MESSAGES TO CELL PHONES The Annoyance: I have a friend who's always traveling and seldom takes a laptop along. I figure the best way to get his attention is to IM his cell phonewhy can't I send him a text message with my IM program? The Fix: All the major IM programs let you send text messages, but not all cell carriers/phones can receive them. Don't forget, also, that those people who can receive your messages may not be able to respondagain, it depends on the carrier and/or the phone. Check with your pal's cell phone provider, and while you're at it, try sending him a text message with your IM program. If you get a message telling you the service is unavailable, you're probably out of luck. (Of course, it could also mean that his phone is off, or that the carrier supports the feature but your pal didn't buy that package.) Here's how to send text messages (also called SMS messages) from the major IM programs:
AIM With AIM, just add a mobile phone number to your Buddy List, and you can then send text messages to the cell phone in the same way you would IM any buddy. To add a number, click the Setup button near the bottom of the AIM window. The Setup Buddy List window will appear. Click the Add Mobile icon. In the form that appears (shown in Figure 7-3), select the appropriate country and enter the area code and phone number (don't enter a 1 or a country code, and don't use any characters such as dashes or parentheses). If you want a name rather than the cell phone number to appear in your Buddy List, type that in the appropriate box. Click OK. Figure 7-3. When you add a cell phone as a buddy, type in the person's name so it will show up in your Buddy List instead of the cell phone number. 
The cell phone number will show up in your Buddy List, and you can now send a text message to that phone. Note that AIM will show this buddy as online all the time, even if his phone isn't turned on. If your recipient can respond, his return address will be his phone number, not a buddy name (see Figure 7-4). Figure 7-4. When you receive a text message from a cell phone in AIM, you'll see the sender's cell phone number, not his name. 
Yahoo! Messenger To send a text with Yahoo! Messenger, click the Text icon (the small cell phone). In the To box, type in the cell phone number, then type in the text message and click Send. If you want to add someone's cell phone as a contact, click the Text icon, enter the phone number, choose Contact Contact Options Add to Address Book, then fill out the form to add the contact, as you would any other.
There's no way to send text messages to cell phones using Windows Messenger. If you want this capability you'll have to install MSN Messenger. You can download it from http://messenger.msn.com/.
ICQ To send a text using ICQ, click the SMS button. In the screen that appears, type in a name for the contact, type in the phone number, and pick the country. As with many things ICQ, the process is more confusing than it needs to be. (For example, you must type the cell phone number's area code in the Network # box.) If you want this contact to always show up in your Contact List, check the "Add new SMS Contact to my Contact List" box. Click OK. ICQ will launch, and you can now send a text message to your contact's phone. USE IM PROGRAMS ON A CELL PHONE IM programs, including AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger, are becoming increasingly available on cell phones. The IM programs on phones often look and act very much like the ones on your PC, and generally they can use the buddy lists stored on your PC. However, this varies from phone to phone and IM service to IM service. On older phones, the IM program may not match the look or features of the PC-based IM program, and you may be limited in the number of buddies you can have. For example, older Nokia phones limit you to a total of 30 buddies; newer phones don't impose such a strict limit. Check with your cell phone provider for details. Most providers (including T-Mobile, Cingular, AT&T, Nextel, Sprint, and others) offer IM capabilities, and most newer phones (including those from Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sanyo, and others) will let you use IM programs. |
PLUMB YOUR IM PROGRAM'S MEMORY The Annoyance: I was IMing with my old college roommate late one night last week, and together we hatched a business plan that we're sure would reap us a bundle and lead to an early, lucrative retirement. We both went to sleep soon after, and now we can't remember the scheme! Is there some hidden log of the chat that I can unearth? And how can I save my brainstorms in the future? The Fix: Almost all IM programs let you save your chats as text filesalthough there's no guarantee your midnight brainstorm won't seem like a slight drizzle the next day. Keep in mind, though, that with all the IM programs (except ICQ, as discussed below) you must save the chat session either during the session or at the end. If you end the session without saving it, your brilliant schemes and conversations will sadly be lost forever. For future reference, here's how to save your chat sessions with the major IM programs:
AIM At the end of your chat session, choose File Save in your chat window, or press Ctrl-S. You can save the session as an HTML file (what AOL calls AOL Rich Text Format) or as a text file in the folder of your choice.
In your chat window, choose File Save or press Ctrl-S. You can save your chat only as a text file.
In your chat window, choose File Save. You can save your chat only as a text file.
Alas, you can't save chats on a chat-by-chat basis with ICQ Liteyou must choose to save all of your chats or none of them. To automatically save all your chats, choose Main Preferences and Security Saving Options and check the Save History box (see Figure 7-5). To read any chat, double-click the contact whose chat history you want to readeven if the person isnt onlineand then click the Message History button (the one with a large H on it). You'll see the transcript of that session, as shown in Figure 7-6. To delete a transcript, select it and press Delete. You can delete all of your chats by choosing Main Preferences and Security Saving Options, typing your password, and clicking the Clear History button. Figure 7-5. Here's how to save all of your chats in ICQ Lite. 
Figure 7-6. When you review your ICQ chats, you'll see each message sent in a chat, including the sender's name, the time, and the message itself. 
THE ICQ PRO ADVANTAGE One big ICQ Pro plus is that, unlike with ICQ Lite, you can save chats on a user-by-user basis. Just right-click the contact's name, choose User's Unique Settings General Accept, and check the "Save history with this user box to save the chat. Uncheck the box, and the session is not saved. As with all things ICQ, this can be very confusing. When you first install ICQ Pro, you're asked if you want to install the program for yourself or multiple users (for example, if you're installing it on a PC at an Internet cafe). If you install it for yourself (which most people do), all your chats are saved by default. If you install it for multiple users, they aren't. |
IM AND JENNIFER ANISTON'S HAIRDO The Annoyance: Whenever I open AIM, ICQ, or Yahoo! Messenger, a browser window appears with the latest useless "news." If I wanted the scoop on Jennifer Aniston's new hairdo, I'd pick up a supermarket tabloid. How can I stop this window from launching? The Fix: That window is basically the IM app's welcome screen. Here's how to put the kibosh on it:
AIM Click the Prefs button at the bottom of the AIM window, and choose Sign On/Sign Off. Uncheck the "Show AIM.com window at sign on" box, and click OK.
Yahoo! Messenger Choose Messenger Preferences General, uncheck the "Show Yahoo! Insider when I login box, and click OK.
ICQ Lite Choose Main Preference and Security Contact List, uncheck the "Show the 'Welcome to ICQ screen" box, and click OK (see Figure 7-7). Figure 7-7. To stop ICQ from displaying its annoying welcome screen, just uncheck the "Show the 'Welcome to ICQ' screen" box. 
PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY WHEN USING IM The Annoyance: I received an IM yesterday from a complete stranger, wishing me a happy birthday and then trying to sell me a ring with my birthstone. How in the world did this scamster get my birthday? And how can I protect my privacy? The Fix: The source of this grief was undoubtedly the personal profile you filled out when you registered your IM program. That profile is public, so anyone can read it, including people who want to sell you things you don't want. If you're worried about your privacy, delete the profile or make it invisible. Here's how:
AIM Choose My AIM Edit Profile and uncheck the "Allow People to Search for Me box (Figure 7-8). Make sure to keep clicking the Next button all the way through each screen; if you cancel at any point, your profile will still be public. Figure 7-8. When you don't let people search for you, you essentially hide your AIM profile. 
Yahoo! Messenger Choose Messenger Yahoo! Account Info. Youll be sent to a web page that asks for your password. Enter it, and you'll be taken to the Yahoo! Account Information page. This information is not public; only you can see it. Click Edit/Create Profiles. You'll be sent to a page that lists all your profiles. (Yahoo! lets you have more than one.) Click your profile, and you'll be sent to a profile page (see Figure 7-9). Other Yahoo! users can view this page. If there's any information here you don't want others to see, click the Edit Profile Information link near the top of the page. On the page that appears, delete any information you don't want made public and click Save Changes. Then, on the next page that appears, click Finished Editing. Figure 7-9. For maximum privacy, don't include any information in your public Yahoo! profile. 
Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger Choose Tools Options Personal Edit Profile. If you havent created a profile, you'll be asked if you want to download an add-in from the Web to do so. Since you haven't created a profile, your information isn't public, so there's no reason to download the add-in. If you have created a profile, you'll be sent to a page that has your public profile. Delete any information you don't want others to see, and click Save. No More Windows Messenger Profile If you install XP Service Pack 2 on your PC, you'll discover a new "enhancement" to your Windows Messenger account: your previous public profile has vanished. Nor can you create or edit onethe option is apparently no longer available in Windows Messenger. |
ICQ Choose Add/Find View My Details. An Info Summary screen will appear that details all the information youve made public. Click each entry (Home, Work, Personal Info, and so on), and delete any information you don't want public. Click OK when you're done.
IM IS KILLING MY BUSINESS! The Annoyance: I run a small business, and I'm worried that my employees are spending more time IMing than getting actual work done. I'm no Scrooge, but I really don't want them chatting on company time, much less exposing our network to dangers. How can I tell if they're chatting? The Fix: If you're looking for snooping software, there are several programs that will do the trick. Most can report which port the user used, the number of logon attempts, the number of messages sent and received, and the number of files sent and received. IM Detector, for example, will scan your network, see if anyone is using AOL Instant Messenger, Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, or ICQ Lite or Pro. You can download a free evaluation version of IM Detector from http://www.imlogic.com/resources_downloads.htm. Such programs are useful, but they can be complex to set up, and ultimately you'll have to pay for them. If you're willing to do a little work, you can check for IM traffic yourself, using the outgoing traffic logs maintained by your router and looking for the ports and resources that all IM apps use. (Not all routers have this capability, though, and how you cull information varies from router to router and even among products from the same manufacturer.) Note: with IM Detector or IM Guardian, you're automatically alerted when someone is using an IM program. With this do-it-yourself method, you'll have to regularly check the router's logs throughout the day. Here's how to check the logs of the popular Linksys BEFW11S4 router: Log into your Linksys router's setup screen by going to http://192.168.1.1 in your browser. Unless you've set it up with a username and a different password, leave the username blank and enter admin as the password. Choose Administration Log. Click the Outgoing Log button. A browser window will appear, listing all the outgoing traffic from your network to the Internet. Examine the outgoing log for telltale signs of IM traffic in the Service/Port and Destination URL/IP columns. Look for these signs of IM use: AIM. Port number 5190; URL aim.aol.com or www.aim.com. Yahoo! Messenger. Port number 5050; URL update.messenger.yahoo.com, update.pager.yahoo.com, or update.messenger.yahoo.com. ICQ. Port number 5140; URL xtraz.icq.com. Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger. Port number 1863; URL svcs.microsoft.com.
If you see these port numbers or URLs repeatedly in the log, people on your network are instant messaging. To find out who is using IM, for any of the port numbers or URLs listed in step 5, write down the LAN IP address. Then go back to the Outgoing Log screen and select Status Local Network. Click the DHCP Client Table, and youll see a list of every IP address in use on your network, and the name of the computer tied to it (see Figure 7-10). Figure 7-10. Looks like someone's been instant messaging on this networkthe repeated use of port 5190 is a dead giveaway. 
GET A UNIVERSAL INSTANT MESSENGER The Annoyance: The inability of the major IM programs to talk to each other is a huge pain. It's like not being able to talk to a friend on the phone because her phone is made by a different manufacturer than mine! How do I topple this Tower of Babble? The Fix: Get the free program Trillian from http://www.ceruleanstudios.com. It connects to all the major instant messaging programs, including AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger, ICQ, and the original Internet chatting protocol, IRC (Internet Relay Chat). To use it, you'll need accounts with each IM service. Run Trillian, enter the requested information about each of your accounts, and Trillian will automatically get your contact lists from each IM app. You'll then be able to see all your contacts from all of your instant messaging programs, and communicate with each from a single interface. Trillian lets you do most typical IM tricks, including sending and receiving messages and files, viewing profiles, and so on. It'll even tell you when you have email on AOL or Yahoo! and will launch you to their respective email web sites. The basic version of Trillian is free; the $25 Trillian Pro supports plug-ins that allow you to get your local weather forecast piped into Trillian, do faster file transfers, and more (Figure 7-11). Figure 7-11. No need to run multiple IM programsTrillian can communicate with all of them. 
Other Universal Instant Messengers Trillian is the most popular universal instant messenger around, but it's not the only one. Other notables are Gaim, an open source universal messenger for Windows, Linux, and the Macintosh (http://gaim.sourceforge.net), and Pandion (http://www.pandion.be/rhymbox) for Windows (formerly RhymBox). |
TEACH TRILLIAN TO TALK AGAIN The Annoyance: I thought Trillian was supposed to be a universal messenger, but two days ago it stopped connecting to AOL Instant Messenger. What's so universal about that? The Fix: Every once in a while, the engineers at the IM vendors get tired of Trillian connecting to their instant messaging services, and so they block Trillian from getting through. But within a few days, Trillian's engineers figure out a workaround. If you run into an e-brick wall, look for the latest patch on the Trillian site at http://www.ceruleanstudios.com. You'll find instructions on how to download the update, or information on when one will be available. HELP A MAC FRIEND The Annoyance: My best friend is a Mac user. (I try not to hold this against him.) I'm a big IM fan and use ICQ, AIM, Windows Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger. How can he IM me? Is there a Trillian for the Mac? The Fix: The main free universal instant messaging program for the Mac is Fire, available from http://fire.sourceforge.net. It can communicate with AIM, ICQ, Windows Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger, as well as with IRC and Jabber. SEND FILES EASILY VIA IM The Annoyance: I've tried sending a file to a coworker via email three times today, but each time my ISP rejected it, saying it was too large. There's gotta be some workaround. The Fix: There isuse your IM app. No file size limits apply, because unlike with email, your attachments don't use up space on the ISP's server. As long as your company isn't blocking IM apps, you're home free. (If your company is, well, you're outta luck.) Here's how to send files via the major IM programs:
AIM Double-click the buddy you want to send the file to and, from the instant messaging window, choose File Send File. Click the File button, browse to the file you want to send, and click Select. Click the Send button. Your buddy will be notified that you want to send a file. If he clicks OK, the file will be sent and youll see the transfer status (Figure 7-12). Figure 7-12. Gotta send big files? Forget emailIM is the way 
Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger Double-click your buddy and, from the message window, click Send a File or Photo. Browse to the file you want to send and click Open. Your buddy will get a notification that you want to send a file. If he accepts it, the file transfer will start. You'll be able to see the transfer status at the bottom of the screen.
Yahoo! Messenger Double-click your buddy and choose Contact Send a File. Click the Browse button, choose the file you want to send, and click Open. In the Send a File dialog box, type a description of the file you want to transfer, and click Send. Your buddy will be asked whether he wants to accept the transfer. If he says yes, the file will be sent. Youll see its transfer progress and get a notification when the file transfer is complete (Figure 7-13). Figure 7-13. Unlike other IM apps, Yahoo! Messenger tells you when a file transfer is complete. 
ICQ Right-click the buddy you want to send the file to and choose Send File. Select the file you want to send, and click Open. The file will be sent.
STOP VIRUSES SENT VIA IM The Annoyance: Gee, thanks for the advice on how to transfer files using IM. Now my computer is on the fritz, thanks to a virus I got via AIM. I thought my Norton AntiVirus would catch this! The Fix: It sounds like you have an older version of Norton AntiVirusversions prior to Norton 2003 didn't catch IM-borne viruses. Your best bet is to upgrade to the latest version of Norton (or get a comparable competing product). Even if you have the latest version, however, Norton won't necessarily protect you. It only catches files transferred with AIM Version 4.7 or later, Yahoo! Messenger Version 5.0 or later, and Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger Version 4.6 or later, so if you use ICQ or older versions of these IM apps, you're still at risk. Note: if you install Norton AntiVirus and then install an IM program, IM protection might not be enabled in Norton. To turn it on, choose Options Instant Messenger, check the boxes next to your instant messaging programs, and click OK. McAfee VirusScan will also catch viruses, but only those sent via AIM 2.1 or later, Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger 6.0 or later, or Yahoo! Messenger 4.1 or later. Again, with ICQ, you're out of luck. To make sure IM file-transfer protection is turned on, right-click the McAfee icon (the small "m") in the Windows System Tray, choose Options ActiveShield, check the "Scan inbound instant message attachments box, and click OK. DOWNLOADED AND FORGOTTEN Let's say you're sent a file via IM, but you don't immediately use it. The next day, you want to find it... but where in the world did it go? If you've saved it to a folder you've created, it should be easy to find. But if you used the default folder suggested by your IM program, you may have trouble tracking it down, because IM apps tend to keep these folders well hidden. Here are the default folders for the popular IM apps: AIM: C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Name>\My Documents\filelib\<AIM Name>\, where <Your Name> is your XP account name and <AIM Name> is your AIM account name. Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger: C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Name>\My Documents\My Received Files. For a shortcut to get to the files, from Windows Messenger/MSN Messenger, choose File Open Received Files. C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Name>\Application Data\Yahoo! Messenger\<Screen Name>\receive, where <Screen Name> is your Yahoo! screen name. ICQ: C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Name>\My Documents\ICQ Lite\<ICQ Number>, where <ICQ Number> is your ICQ number, such as 7202344.
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Scan Your Received Files There's another way to make sure that files you receive via IM don't have viruses: scan them as soon as you save them to disk, before you open them. |
USE IM AT WORK The Annoyance: I've been trying, to no avail, to convince my boss that we should use IM for our group. He tells me that the "powers that be" (whoever they are) have said that IM is too insecure to be used in our corporation. Is there a secure IM tool I can tell these dinosaurs to install? The Fix: There are a variety of IM programs that can be used securely in corporations, but at the top of most everyone's list is Jabber Messenger, available from http://www.jabber.com/index.cgi. Jabber can't just be downloaded and installed by anyone at your company; your IT department will have to do some network and infrastructure configuration. (Tell them to head to jabber.org to get started.) With security in mind, the IT staff can disable certain Jabber features, create custom tabs, set up secure collaboration and text messaging, require authentication, and more. Once it's up and running, Jabber will do everything an IM program can do, and then someand it'll do it securely, company-wide. |
