'There have been a number of exploits involving ICQ,' said Alfred Huger, vice president of engineering at the security firm, which lists three known ICQ exploits on its Web site, including the buffer overflow identified on Bugtraq. Just last month, for example, the security mailing list Bugtraq reported that using a link to a Web site embedded in an ICQ message creates a glitch, called a ' buffer overflow,' that can be used by a malicious programmer to gain control of a computer. The service, which lets people know when friends and colleagues are available for online chats and enables a kind of electronic conversation, has inspired numerous competitors-including Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL-to create similar services.ĭespite ICQ's success, the software remains highly unsecure, according to Net security experts. ICQ is the instant messaging leader, having signed up more than 60 million registered users since its launch. But he said this week's attack appeared to be an isolated incident and probably involved a so-called Trojan horse virus that was used to steal Ficken's password and take control of the account. He said AOL does not yet know how Ficken's account was compromised. 'I stood to lose four years' worth of business contacts,' said Dale Ficken, a Webcasting consultant, who was locked out of his account for two days.ĪOL spokesman Rich D'Amato said the company is investigating the incident. The company returned the UIN to the original owner today.

In the latest security breach affecting the popular ICQ instant messaging service, a Web consultant says his account was held hostage this week by a hacker who took over his user number and tried to pry a ransom out of the deal.Īmerica Online, which purchased ICQ last year, confirmed that an unauthorized person this week made off with a long-time customer's password and user identification number (UIN).

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