People using online chat programs at work are supposedly a risk to business. Why ? It's the same as with personal blogs. People might talk about their work, being positive or negative, and release information that should have been confidential to the world. But an even bigger problem is the use of IM networks to spread malicious code.

A recent monthly Instant Messaging Threat Watch by security firm Akonix tracked 20 malicious code attacks over IM networks during the month of May, bringing the 2007 total to 170 threats. The number of security threats associated with unmanaged instant messaging during work hours is steadily increasing. On average, at least one IM attack occurs per day.E-Commerce News

Some companies will try and block access to these networks, but that will only help for a short while. We are in the Web 2.0 era, which means that the applications will integrate better and easier into all kinds of other networks, websites and such, so eventually people will find a way to connect to them.

I firmly believe this should not be stopped. The use of IM is a part of the way we communicate in the world today. And even if you close these connections, writers of malicious code will find other ways to penetrate the network.