There are several instant messaging (IM) clients available to computer users today. Some of them include AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Instant Messenger, Adium, Trillian and GAIM. When choosing an IM client, it is very important you understand how the client works and what the dangers are.
May times you have heard from Tech Support that email is a very insecure method of communication, but what you probably don't know is that IM is even worse. Most IM clients have virtually no "effective" security built into them while almost all of them do not encrypt any of the information sent back and forth, including your username and password when you sign on.
So what can you do to protect yourself? COB Tech Support is experimenting with a plug-in that works with GAIM to provide encrypted communication between other users that have encryption enabled. In the meantime, make sure you do not send anything confidential over IM and do not use a password for your IM accounts that you are worried someone might steal. You may want to even consider changing your IM passwords once a month.