Kaspersky has published a new report which analyzes the threat of malware programs being spread via instant messengers (IM).

The report, written by two of its virus analysts, says that IM can be vulnerable to attack from hackers.

Sometimes the susceptible elements can only be discovered by the program's developers after they have been compromised by the hackers.

A demonstration of the issues is highlighted in the report using the case of ICQ, which is a popular IM client across the world.

Hackers accessed ICQ numbers which stole the passwords of users of the program. People's passwords for email accounts and other secure sites were accessed together with their ICQ details.

Cybercriminals used a variety of methods to get users into clicking onto a link which spread the worm program on their computer. Users then received up to 20 unwanted messages every hour.

Kaspersky also recently released a report on the issue of botnets. It describes the commonly-known zombie networks as one of the "most serious information security threats".