Instant messaging or internet relay chats were not yet popular during my high school days. Although I was able to communicate with a few people who I don’t know from Australia and New Zealand, I have our school’s pen pal program to thank that for. But don’t get me wrong, though. The thought of speaking with somebody who’s from another continent isn’t exactly considered a Michael J. Fox movie even when I was still in kindergarten. Unless you’ve already forgotten, a sort of instant messaging service was already in existence even during our grandparents’ time in the form of telegram services.

Small, Small World

The world shrank further a few years later when the Internet’s popularity increased exponentially. Web sites were not yet widespread back then, and people were not that reliant on the same for information. What many appreciated the Internet for during that time was for the messaging services. Yahoo! or Windows/MSN Messenger was not yet available. The first communications tool or application that I remember using was mIRC.

Internet relay chat programs allow users to exchange messages in real time. It’s no different than with the instant messengers that everybody’s using nowadays, well except that the former’s GUI is a bit prehistoric, and the smileys are still “cro-magnic.” Oh and of course, Web cams were unheard of back then.

Exploiting for Exploits

As with anything on the Internet, hackers soon found a way to use IRCs to infect PCs with their creations. While IRCs primarily process messages and send them to their intended recipients, they also have the ability to send files.

It’s very easy to spread malware through IRCs or IMs. Almost all people who have Internet access use them, unless the persons that he needs or intends to communicate with all live in his house. Hackers usually open up accounts and pose as chatters who pretend to be interested in befriending you. During the course of your conversation, he will ask you to receive a file from him, purportedly a picture of him or something that might be interesting to you. If you’re too trusting (or gullible), then chances are is that you’ll be reformatting your hard drive the next day due to a hopeless case of registry infestation.

Surfing With Bodyguards

We’re always told to never talk to strangers. While you may think that such warning doesn’t apply in the virtual world, think again. The admonition is actually more relevant, or at least equally applicable in cyberspace. Don’t underestimate the cunningness of con artists lurking around the chat rooms. Many have already been victimized personally and virtually. The danger is real. You could be robbed or maligned in cyberspace. While you may escape physical harm when entertaining strangers in IRCs or IMs, the virtual or electronic injury can be likewise equally painful.

Protect yourself and your computer from being mugged in cyberspace. Make sure that you have electronic sentinels before taking a trip in cyberspace. Two bodyguards in the form of an antivirus and registry cleaner programs should already be enough to ward off malicious attacks.

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One of the things that I really like about the Internet is its ability to bridge people and make them feel like every person, regardless of where he’s residing, is just a few inches away.

The Webcam is a marvelous complement to the PC. It puts a face behind the sea of text messages that we receive from somebody in Internet Relay Chats or Instant Messengers. It has also curbed fraud in the chat rooms. I guess some of you already have experienced meeting people from the Internet that didn’t exactly match the self-description that they’ve given before you met.

Unfortunately for many workers, it has extended their working hours and the four corners of their offices. Before Web cams became staples, office tasks came to a halt when the boss leaves for a business trip. Nowadays, managers and executives make their presence felt in the office even if they’re hundreds of miles away therefrom. I guess it’s safe to say that the Web cam isn’t that too popular in the office.

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More and more people are getting hooked on Internet Relay Chats (IRC) and Instant Messengers (IM). The reason is not that surprising. Many find the Internet as a very convenient tool for communication and socialization. Some chat with friends that they’ve already known for a long time, while others browse through the list in search for new acquaintances.

While there’s nothing wrong in making new friends on the Internet, the danger involved in getting to know somebody in cyberspace is a bit higher than meeting somebody in person. The physical dangers may be absent in e-dates or e-meetings, but the peril is still as grave and as real when done virtually.

Part of the problem in getting to know somebody from the Internet is that you have no way of knowing whether what the person is saying about himself are actually true. You can’t entirely trust a person that you haven’t seen. Who knows, he might be misrepresenting himself the whole time.

Be very careful in giving personal details to persons that you’ve only met in chat. Double your guard when he’s sending you questionable files. It’s possible that such file might be a phishing tool or something that might corrupt your Windows registry or other important system components.

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