Backdoor in Skype

[TNFrank]

So, in a nut shell, what does all this mean for someone wanting to use Skype to talk to family and friends across the Country? I don't like the government spying on me anymore then anyone else does and it's not like I have anything to hide, I just feel my 4th Amend. Right to Privicy is suppose to be protected, that's all. So, what's the implication of having a Backdoor in Skype and who's going to be using it and for what purpose?

[PartisanEntity]

I really don't want to loose my Skype though ... does this mean that my conversations and calls ( voice and video ) can be monitored?

Yes, the evidence proves that Microsoft is snooping and monitoring chats and following links that are being posted. It also shows that MS is even calling up assets that were behind secure connections when the urls where embedded with login data.

You can continue to use Skype, no one denies that as a service it's good and works well. However, it cannot be assumed any more that Skype is a secure form of communication, if security and encryption are required.

[PartisanEntity]

So, in a nut shell, what does all this mean for someone wanting to use Skype to talk to family and friends across the Country? I don't like the government spying on me anymore then anyone else does and it's not like I have anything to hide, I just feel my 4th Amend. Right to Privicy is suppose to be protected, that's all. So, what's the implication of having a Backdoor in Skype and who's going to be using it and for what purpose?

MS claims it does this in order to fight spam. The security community is not convinced with this answer due to the evidence.

If privacy, security and encryption are important to you, I would recommend using a different method of communication. I am trying to convince my best friends to use the private xmpp server that I set up, using Jitsi, we can make encrypted voice and video calls. Using most other clients, we can make encrypted chats, as well as OTR when needed.

If you're going to talk about the new tricks your puppy learned, Skype is fine

Edit: but if you value your privacy even when talking about the new puppy tricks, then Skype is not fine, nor is any other service where you have no idea what the service provider is doing on their servers.

[Dry Lips]

Breaking news:

According to Washington Post, Skype is among the services that are being monitored, and yes, that apparently includes audio calls:

Read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/invest...497_story.html


Other US services being monitored includes: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, YouTube, Apple...

[Dale61]

Skype is 'dead' to me now that Microsoft own it. I used it regularly to stay in contact with family, who live in various states of the country (Australia).

Now, I use ooVoo on my android tablet to do the same task.

[Lars Noodén]

Skype is 'dead' to me now that Microsoft own it. I used it regularly to stay in contact with family, who live in various states of the country (Australia).

Now, I use ooVoo on my android tablet to do the same task.

Oovoo is also proprietary. Instead you could look to moving to an SIP/XMPP client. In such case you might also try Linphone or Jitsi, your family can install it along side of (or instead of) anything else.

[Dale61]

Oovoo is also proprietary. Instead you could look to moving to an SIP/XMPP client. In such case you might also try Linphone or Jitsi, your family can install it along side of (or instead of) anything else.

When I am responsible for installing programs on family members computers, I have to do so whenever I have the access. My 80+ yo mother has NFI how to install anything on her laptop, my brother rarely, if ever, uses his laptop (has NFI why he even got one!), and my sister and her family are now all tablet equipped, and as ooVoo is the easiest to install, and easiest to use, that is MY preferred option for them.

BTW, my parents live some 1800 kms away, my brother lives 3700+ kms away, and my sister lives 'only' 750 kms away.

[t0p]

The OP says skype is dead because its back door is "official". But what about all the programs with "unofficial" back doors. Bruce Schneier has written about it rather well in his article for The Atlantic, "What We Don't Know About Spying on Citizens: Scarier Than What We Know". And it's not just "internet telephony" - sms, instant messaging, irc, email, web chat - whether encrypted or not - all of these could have back doors installed by our friends in the "No Such Agency". Most of you will say "But open source stuff is okay, we can see the code!" But that can depend on who looks at the code, how carefully they do so, and how trustworthy this code reading person is.

I'm not trying to scare anyone into paranoia. But we do need to be realistic.

[Lars Noodén]

I'm not trying to scare anyone into paranoia. But we do need to be realistic.

It's not paranoia any more. It's pretty much all confirmed publicly at this point. Using open source and open standards can reduce the risk profile somewhat.

[Bandit]

Backdoor in Skype.. Hope they dont jack my iPod.. :-/