Akonix Software says IM Networks in danger.

A local security software maker has issued a warning about malicious code attacks over instant messaging networks.

Akonix Systems Inc. said it tracked 10 new malicious code attacks over IM networks in May, raising the total count of malicious worms to 73 through May 31.

The research was conducted by Akonix and its industry colleagues in IM infrastructure and security schemes: Sophos and Secunia.

Although the number of identified worms is down from last year, the sophistication has increased, said Don Montgomery, vice president of marketing. He said just one rapidly propagating Trojan or worm could take down a business network.

"Organizations hoping to improve productivity from IM and unified communications need to get effective security tools in place immediately," said Montgomery.

But not everyone is equally alarmed about IM threats.

A representative from competitor Symantec Corp., an Internet security firm, said IM appears to be losing favor among malicious code authors, who are shifting their efforts to Web sites where their viruses and worms can be more lucrative.

Peter Firstbrook, an analyst at Gartner Inc., a technology research and advisory firm, says IM threats simply didn't materialize the way many experts initially predicted. He said the largest threat these days is sending e-mails to lure victims to a Web site containing malware.

"You have to protect your Web gateway and that will protect your IM servers as well," Firstbrook said.

The cost for protection is worth the possible cost of loss due to worms, viruses and other malware. He said these types of threats are becoming more sophisticated, more prolific and more malicious--often aiming to steal passwords, credentials and critical information.

"The cost of a malware infection is actually going up because malware is more malicious in intent these days," Firstbrook said.