Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Meebo takes the risk out of IM


Meebo is a service I've following and using for quite some time. It's a web site that allows you to open up all your instant messaging accounts at the same time. When you log in to Meebo, it logs you into all your IM accounts. Obviously, you need an account with each provider and you need to tell Meebo your user name and password.

What I like about Meebo is that it does not install into your operating system. This greatly reduces security concerns and it means that you can use any computer with an Internet browser. Of course, advanced features, such as voice and video do not work.

If you're interested in managing all your IM accounts while reducing security risks and CPU drain, this is the service for you. And, it's free.
T

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

'splain to me how giving your username and password to a man in the middle eliminates security risks?

Thane said...

I think you referring to a "man in the middle attacks". That's when a hostile person is secretly between you and the person/service with whom you are communicating.

Obviously, if Meebo or any other service is not to be trusted, then providing them your IM password would indeed be foolish.

My point about protection is that Meebo is web based and all the most dangerous aspects of instant messengers, such as file sharing, are removed. Plus, no IM clients need to be installed on the local computer. So, for a school, Meebo allows students/staff to get their fix of IM without exposing the school's computers to the risk of IM clients.

T