mIRC

mIRC is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client for Windows, created in 1995. It is a fully functional chat utility, and its integrated scripting language makes it extensible and versatile.[3]

mIRC
Screenshot of an unmodified mIRC 7.27 running on Windows 7 on the freenode IRC network
Original author(s)Khaled Mardam-Bey
Developer(s)mIRC Co. Ltd.
Initial releaseFebruary 28, 1995 (1995-02-28)
Stable release7.64 (December 11, 2020 (2020-12-11)[1]) [±]
Written inC/C++[2]
Operating systemWindows XP and later
PlatformIA-32
Size4.89 MB
TypeIRC client
LicenseProprietary/Trialware
Websitewww.mirc.com

mIRC has been described as "one of the most popular IRC clients available for Windows."[3] It has been downloaded over 40 million times from CNET's Download.com service.[4] In 2003, Nielsen/NetRatings ranked mIRC among the top ten most popular Internet applications.[5]

History

mIRC was created by Khaled Mardam-Bey. He began developing the software in late 1994, and released its first version on February 28, 1995.[6]

Mardam-Bey states that he decided to create mIRC because he felt the first IRC clients for Windows lacked some basic IRC features. He then continued developing it due to the challenge and the fact that people appreciated his work. The author states that its subsequent popularity allowed him to make a living out of mIRC.[2] mIRC is shareware and requires payment for registration after the 30-day evaluation period.[7]

The developer states that version 5.91 is the final one to support 16-bit Windows;[8] 6.35 is the last to support Windows 95, NT 4.0, 98, and ME. The current version supports Windows XP and later.[9]

Main features

mIRC has a number of distinguishing features. One is its scripting language which is further developed with each version. The scripting language can be used to make minor changes to the program like custom commands (aliases),[3] but can also be used to completely alter the behavior and appearance of mIRC. Another claimed feature is mIRC's file sharing abilities, via the DCC protocol, featuring a built-in file server.[10]

Starting with mIRC 7.1, released on July 30, 2010,[11] Unicode and IPv6 are supported.

mIRC scripting
Main article: mIRC scripting language

mIRC's abilities and behaviors can be altered and extended using the embedded mIRC scripting language. mIRC includes its own GUI scripting editor,[3] with help that has been described as "extremely detailed".[3]

mIRC scripting is not limited to IRC related events and commands. It is Turing complete. There is support for COM objects, calling DLLs, sockets, canvass drawing, input device reading, regular expressions, and dialog boxes, among other things. This allows the client to be used in a variety of ways beyond chatting, for example as an IRC bot, a media player, a web HTML parser, or for other entertainment purposes such as mIRC games.

Due to the level of access the language has to a user's computer — for example, being able to rename and delete files — a number of abusive scripts have been made. One example of abuse was that executed with the $decode identifier which decodes a given encoded string.[12][13] The issue was reported in August 2001; even five months later, users were still being reported as having fallen prey, tricked into executing commands on their systems which result in "handing control of [their] mIRC over to somebody else".[14] This led to changes being made in mIRC version 6.17: according to the author, $decode is now disabled by default, and various other features which can be considered dangerous are now lockable.[11]

References
  1. "mIRC: Latest News". mirc.com. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  2. "mIRC: Personal FAQ". mirc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  3. Smith, Chris (2004). "Hack #20 Automate IRC with Scripting". In Paul Mutton\ (ed.). IRC Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools. O'Reilly Media, Inc. pp. 71–74. ISBN 9780596006877.
  4. "mIRC". Download.CNet.com. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  5. "InternetNews Traffic Patterns 2003". InternetNews.com. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  6. "mIRC: Khaled Mardam-Bey". www.mirc.com.
  7. "Registration". mirc.com.
  8. "mIRC 6.0 drops 16bit support". mirc.com.
  9. "mIRC download for 6.35 and latest version". mirc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  10. "mIRC FAQ: Section 6". mirc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  11. "mIRC: Latest News". mirc.com. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  12. "mIRC Backdoors - An Advanced Overview". originally by ReDeeMeR. Securiteam.com Windows NT Focus. 24 February 2002.
  13. Ahmadi Bidakhwidi, Mohammad (2005) "mIRC Worm" Archived 2012-11-03 at the Wayback Machine. The Ethical Hacker.
  14. Lo, Joseph, ed. (January 4, 2002). "IRC News Jan 04 02 Happy 2002 - //$decode trojan keeps going and going... " Archived 2012-08-01 at the Wayback Machine. and
    "Aug 30 01 mIRC $decode() exploit." IRChelp.org.

Further reading
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