Something this site has always reacted against is the general publics’ conception (actually more the mainstream press I guess) that IRC is by default something nasty, a place full of crackers, a place where your credit card details are being sold for next to nothing or a way to control a drone net.

Each morning I visit a fairly long list of sites related to IRC, and one of them includes Google News to see what “IRC” bring me.

This morning another hit that made me frown. WebKnowHow.net brings an article about a new software package called Threat Expert. So far, cool cool, you probably all know as well that I am a HUGE fan of safe computing practice, and try to promote such practices here on this website (as on others I manage) as well. Despite realizing that the average IRC user that visits IRC-Junkie knows his stuff. Yes you are above average!

But then it goes wrong when they quote the developers: “Threat Expert is embedded with sophisticated behavioral search technology that analyzes previously unknown threats, including rootkits. It knows the specific behavior of spyware, malware, adware, dialers, downloaders, worms, viruses, etc. It even looks for virus-like behavior that includes: mass mailing, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), exploiting Windows bugs, backdoors, and network distribution/replication.”

So there we go again: IRC must be something very nasty by default.

Funny thing is, I’m involved with IRC since ’94 or so. First to discuss 3D graphics with friends all over the world. Later as well as an oper on a fairly sized network. And I am even using this network to host a realtime chat for people interested in spaceweather. In this channel we feed realtime satellite data during severe storms that can lead to the display of northern lights well below the arctic (or above, when speaking of the southern hemisphere!). I can assure you, the people joining there vary from academics to the general public interested in the lights and are far from being trouble makers.

All in all, yes I engage trouble makers in my role as oper now and then, and have actually had my share of troubles with the type you rather would stay away form as much as possible. But does this minority make IRC virus-like behavior? If it was not for me being an oper, I would probably never have engaged them anyway. In my eyes, IRC is still a fun place to meet and chat with friends, family or mind-a-likes. It just needs common sense, just like any other type of place (virtual or not) where people meet.