No Skype

 



Some have asked what I think of Skype and whether I use it for personal communications. First, let me say that while Skype provides clear and reliable communication across a variety of platforms; Skype is a communications platform where your private communications are monitored by both Microsoft and by various government agencies. Microsoft (and likely some government agencies) holds the Skype encryption keys, so it has the ability to decrypt and monitor your conversations whenever it wishes. So... No, I do not use Skype for my personal communications, nor do I recommend it to others.

 

Let’s see what others have said about Skype:

 

Skype uses 256 bit AES to encrypt communication between users, although when calling a telephone or mobile, the part of the call over the public switched telephone network (PSTN) is not encrypted. Skype's encryption is inherent in the Skype Protocol and is transparent to callers. Skype is not considered to be a secure VoIP system as the calls made over the network do not make use of end-to-end encryption, allowing for routine monitoring by Microsoft and by government agencies. (Wikipedia)  

 

According to the German web-site DW Akademie "Skype is incredibly popular for making calls and sending instant messages. Part of its attraction is because it’s cheap and easy to use. But many journalists and dissidents also use Skype because they believe it is safe from surveillance and eavesdropping. That simply isn’t true... It is unclear, however, to what extent agencies or governments in other countries apart from the US have been given a backdoor to able to eavesdrop on Skype (although it is clear that Skype in China has been modified to allow for the scanning of certain keywords to filter out messages deemed sensitive by the Chinese government). But even if we play naive and assume Skype isn’t cooperating with other countries, there’s a still a big hole in the belief it can’t eavesdrop on its own services. Earlier in 2013, it was revealed that Microsoft scans Skype instant message (IM) services for URL links. This is a common practice in many companies and isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Companies need to be able to check messages to make sure they aren’t carrying fraudulent links to phishing websites. But in this case, the news that Microsoft was even able scan the messages set off alarm bells in the internet community. This is because it proves the company can convert Skype messages into human readable form even though it has always said it can’t." 

ARS Technica wrote "If you think the private messages you send over Skype are protected by end-to-end encryption, think again. The Microsoft-owned service regularly scans message contents for signs of fraud, and company managers may log the results indefinitely... And this can only happen if Microsoft can convert the messages into human-readable form at will... Still, there's a widely held belief - even among security professionals, journalists, and human rights activists -that Skype somehow offers end-to-end encryption, meaning communications are encrypted by one user, transmitted over the wire, and then decrypted only when they reach the other party and are fully under that party's control. This is clearly not the case if Microsoft has the ability to read URLs transmitted back and forth... So, the next time you use Skype, enjoy the clarity of the voice communications, its generally slick user interface, and its many other benefits. Just don't think the service can't peer into your messages and store indefinitely what Microsoft managers want. It can, and until officials specifically disclose their practices, users should assume it does."

 

Because our private conversations on Skype can be, and we must assume are being, monitored; Skype does not provide an environment that is secure enough to protect sensitive, private, or personal information. This being said, Skype is certainly more secure than a standard telephone call - which isn't secure at all - but being more secure than no security at all isn't any type of recommendation. There are secure alternatives to Skype that allow us to secure our private messages and conversations, and for my personal use I choose to use a platform that provides me this additional security.