August 1, 2008 at 20:03Is Skype Secure?
- Transfer
Recently, speculation about the security of a well-known Skype voice, video and audio messaging client has become more frequent . According to recent reports (2008), a hole was discovered in the program that allows you to intercept outgoing and incoming connections. The company itself calls such allegations unfounded. However, at a meeting of representatives of Internet service providers and the Austrian Office of Lawful Listening Services on June 25, senior officials in the Austrian government said that it was not a problem for them to intercept Skype connections.
This was also confirmed by a number of other participants attending the meeting. Skype declined to comment on this, nor did it answer the question of whether there are clients that allow you to intercept encrypted traffic. However, rumors are circulating on the web about the existence of a special listening device or set of devices that Skype offers to buy to interested states.
The reason for the rumors lies in the fact that Skype does not disclose the protocol specifications and principles of the client, so the company has all responsibility for encrypting millions of calls around the world, which fundamentally does not suit representatives from serious business circles.
Last month, Austrian ORF provider reported that Austrian police are capable of listening on Skype connections. Government officials this time limited themselves to general comments.
The most interesting thing is that the above-mentioned meeting was not attended by independent technical experts, the composition of the participants included lawyers, representatives of governing bodies and interested government organizations. They demanded that Austrian providers provide a comprehensive solution for filtering network traffic that should go through specially created data centers. To facilitate filtering, Austrian providers should provide their clients with exclusively static IPs.
Naturally, these efforts are justified by the increased threat from terrorists and the increasing activity of criminal organizations using encrypted protocols, including Skype, for communication and planning of criminal actions.
It is already known that the two leading Austrian providers have already succumbed to pressure from the authorities. Special devices for intercepting encrypted traffic have already been installed and are operating.
It is easy to guess that the Austrian experience is now being actively adopted by other countries, and it is not known whether the Austrians are pioneers.
This was also confirmed by a number of other participants attending the meeting. Skype declined to comment on this, nor did it answer the question of whether there are clients that allow you to intercept encrypted traffic. However, rumors are circulating on the web about the existence of a special listening device or set of devices that Skype offers to buy to interested states.
The reason for the rumors lies in the fact that Skype does not disclose the protocol specifications and principles of the client, so the company has all responsibility for encrypting millions of calls around the world, which fundamentally does not suit representatives from serious business circles.
Last month, Austrian ORF provider reported that Austrian police are capable of listening on Skype connections. Government officials this time limited themselves to general comments.
The most interesting thing is that the above-mentioned meeting was not attended by independent technical experts, the composition of the participants included lawyers, representatives of governing bodies and interested government organizations. They demanded that Austrian providers provide a comprehensive solution for filtering network traffic that should go through specially created data centers. To facilitate filtering, Austrian providers should provide their clients with exclusively static IPs.
Naturally, these efforts are justified by the increased threat from terrorists and the increasing activity of criminal organizations using encrypted protocols, including Skype, for communication and planning of criminal actions.
It is already known that the two leading Austrian providers have already succumbed to pressure from the authorities. Special devices for intercepting encrypted traffic have already been installed and are operating.
It is easy to guess that the Austrian experience is now being actively adopted by other countries, and it is not known whether the Austrians are pioneers.