The Windows "Messenger Service" is being exploited to spray the Internet with unsolicited commercial eMail. The receipt of a single UDP packet can cause a "Messenger Service" dialog to pop-up on the user's screen. It is possible for the sender to "spoof" (falsify) the packet's "Source IP", making these packets impossible to trace back to their origin. If our experience with eMail Spam is any model, we can expect to see a lot more of this in the future.

Windows Messenger Service

The first thing to understand is that the Windows Messenger Service is completely different from, and not in any way related to, "MSN Messenger", "Windows Messenger", or any other well-known instant messaging system. Therefore, disabling the Windows Messenger service will have no effect upon your use of any other instant messaging applications. They will continue to work without trouble.