[ale] Skype on Linux

[Robert L. Harris]

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/375169/could-us-cyberspies-have-moles-inside-microsoft



On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 7:54 AM, JD <jdp at algoloma.com> wrote:

> <snip>
>
> > Security concerns noted and appreciated.  While I understand where
> you're coming
> > from, (and each user is different), I don't use Skype for sensitive
> comms.
> > Mainly business stuff between colleagues (and Skype is the standard
> where I
> > work, so I more or less have to use it for that), and talks to my family
> about
> > dull family stuff when I'm away from the house.
> >
> > Given that Skype's data goes through a (large?) number of different
> routers,
> > networks, and such before and after it hits Skype's/MS' servers,
> worrying about
> > MS specifically recording my calls is actually the least of any worries
> I'd have
> > (if I had any to begin with).
> >
> > In short, I'm less concerned about THAT attack vector on my calling
> since I
> > believe there are so many other easier ones*.  And the NSA has  all my
> data already.
> >
>
> <snip>
>
> Main points about using Skype now that MS owns them was concern over good
> Linux
> platform support.  In my use of SisToSip, I learned that most businesses
> using it
> * setup skype on Linux servers
> * used an old, now unavailable, version of Skype for the best sound and
> stability - v2.0.0.72 (I believe, but this is from memory)
> * were extremely concerned that MS would introduce incompatibilities so
> their 3+
> yr old version that doesn't crash and doesn't need to be rebooted
> weekly/daily
> no longer worked
>
> In my months of using it inside a VM, I ended up having to automatically
> restart
> skype daily so it didn't crash and inbound calls would ring. I also had it
> setup
> to send and receive normal POTS telephone calls. Picking up any regular
> handset
> in my home and using the dialpad to make calls worked ... once I started
> the
> daily reboot and if there wasn't a Skype system-wide outage. Early on it
> was
> often frustrating when the first inbound/outbound call of a day failed
> until I
> killed Skype on the server and restarted it.
>
> I haven't used Skype much the last year, so perhaps it is better?
>
> As to whether MS can or will be able to record skype calls ... if they
> have a
> court order and I'm inside the USA, then I don't have any issue. Of
> course, I
> have an expectation of privacy in any form of communication, especially
> voice,
> regardless of the actual technology employed.
>
> It is when they do it as a favor for any government anywhere or just for
> fun,
> that I'm concerned. I haven't read the methods proposed to record calls by
> MS. I
> thought that if one side of the skype call had an open inbound port, then
> no
> "supernode" was involved in the call, so no 3rd party would be needed
> after the
> initial "what is your IP" was determined. I thought that opening an
> inbound port
> for skype turned the system into a supernode for others to leverage, so
> this
> isn't a perfect solution. Seems that recording would need to happen on one
> of
> the systems involved in the call and transmitted to a remote system.
>
> I also read that a team had reverse engineered the Skype encryption and
> released
> the code
>
> http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Skype-s-encryption-procedure-partly-exposed-1034577.html
> . That doesn't mean the encryption has been cracked.
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-- 
:wq!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert L. Harris

DISCLAIMER:
      These are MY OPINIONS             With Dreams To Be A King,
       ALONE.  I speak for                      First One Should Be A Man
       no-one else.                                     - Manowar
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