IM

Real-time text communication; a channel for phishing and data leakage.

Instant messaging provides real time text and file exchange across consumer and enterprise platforms, and its immediacy and informal trust make it a channel for phishing, social engineering, malware delivery, and data leakage. Links and attachments may bypass the scrutiny applied to email, which matters because business chat tools now carry sensitive conversations and files. Mitigations include data loss prevention, logging, and acceptable use policies. A pitfall is unsanctioned consumer apps used for work, which create shadow IT and unmonitored exfiltration paths.