Hackers build private IM

Hackers have built their own encrypted IM (instant-message) program to shield themselves from law enforcement trying to spy on their communication channels, PC World reports.

The application, called CarderIM, is a sophisticated tool hackers are using to sell information such as credit-card numbers or e-mail addresses, part of an underground economy dealing in financial data.

CarderIM exemplifies the increased effort hackers are making to obscure their activities while continuing to use the Internet as a means to communicate with other criminals. “They’re even investing in their own custom tools, their own places to work,” one expert said.

Often, the hackers who obtain credit-card numbers aren’t interested in trying to convert the data into cash. But other people are. On the Internet, the two can meet.