PEER-TO-PEER INSTANT MESSAGING PROGRAMS

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Many people use instant messaging programs like AIM to meet new people and chat with old friends. But if you tend to chat with the same circle of friends, you could set up your own private chat rooms on services like Yahoo! Messenger or ICQ, or set up your own private instant messaging service altogether.

Private instant messaging networks let you turn your computer into a server. This way your friends can connect to your computer using one of the following instant messaging programs without fear of some recording industry spy snooping and tracking down the IP addresses of the people doing the most trading of copyrighted MP3 music files:

MeetGate http://www.meetgate.com

P2P Instant Messenger http://www.ufasoft.com

PalTalk http://www.paltalk.com

STILL PARANOID? ENCRYPT YOUR MESSAGES

The truly paranoid who feel that even their own private instant messaging networks could be spied upon encrypt their messages so that nobody will know what they’re saying or what files they’re trading. Encryption basically scrambles the content of your files so only you (and anyone who knows the password to decrypt the file) can unscramble it again. Most encryption can scramble a file so thoroughly that even governments using supercomputers can’t crack the encryption to peek at the content of a file.

If you’re using a public instant messaging service like ICQ or AIM, you might want to use SurfSecret IMSafe (http://www.surfsecret.com) to encrypt your messages.

While private instant messaging services, such as PalTalk or MeetGate, offer more privacy, you may want to go one step further and set up a private instant messaging network that uses encryption, with one of these programs:

CryptoHeaven http://www.cryptoheaven.com

Super Cipher P2P Messenger http://www.brooksyounce.com/design.htm

Sealquest Messenger http://www.sealquest.com

CryptoHeaven even offers encrypted offline storage, so if you don’t want to risk getting caught with incriminating files on your hard disk, store them in CryptoHeaven’s encrypted file vaults (for a fee), and nobody will be able to access them without the right password (including you, if you forget your own password).

IS BIG BROTHER WATCHING?

The threat of the recording industry or the government spying on instant messaging activities is probably remote, but that doesn’t mean that someone closer to you isn’t spying on you. Your boss, your spouse, or your parents may be curious to know what you’re doing, especially if you’re not supposed to be using instant messaging, or if they just want to know who you’re chatting with.

For example, Chat Watch (http://www.zemericks.com) can record instant messaging conversations and email the conversations to whoever installed the program on that computer. Programs like EmployeeWatcher (http://www.matewatcher.com) and MateWatcher (from the same publisher) can also record every key that you type at the keyboard and take pictures of your screen as you chat, in addition to recording instant messaging conversations. ICQ Sniffer (http://www.ufasoft.com) can even intercept messages sent through ICQ, email, or IRC.

While such programs can help you spy on someone’s instant messaging or IRC conversations, you might want to capture everything they might type, whether it’s a message in a word processor or passwords entered into a website. To capture every keystroke, you can get a program called a keylogger. The Keylogger.org website (http://www.keylogger.org) lists some popular keyloggers.

To protect yourself against keyloggers, you can run spyware removal programs, such as McAfee AntiSpyware (http://www.mcafee.com). To guard specifically against keyloggers, grab a copy of Anti-keylogger (http://www.antikeyloggers.com).

Whether you use a public instant messaging service or set up your own private instant messaging network, anything you view, send, or type could be recorded by someone else, so be careful if you plan to share copyrighted files.

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