Microsoft to slip a backdoor into Skype

[aidanjt]

Microsoft and Skype set to allow backdoor eavesdropping

Skype and Microsoft have managed to leapfrog common sense and build a backdoor into your favourite VOIP application. It is called Lawful Interception and is part of a new patent which Microsoft filed back in 2009, but is now preparing to unleash itself into our world due to its recent approval.

Lawful Interception means that government agencies can, without your permission, begin tracking your Skype conversations. Calls can be covertly recorded and used against you in any circumstance. It is legal, it is frightening and it is coming to a voice over IP application near you.

I understand where Microsoft is coming from. They are obliged, by law, to provide some sort of tracking tool for the authorities who require these specific services. The US law, set by CALEA (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act), states that all telecommunications operators must enable their hardware and software for surveillance tracking. What is hard to understand is why Microsoft is so willing to open up its software for backdoor exploits. This creates a situation which welcomes exploits and willingly turns your computer into a revolving door for hackers.

Microsoft claims that Legal Intercept gently smoothes over the holes which exist in our current telecommunications setup. POTS or Plain Old Telephone Services uses a different monitoring system and one which is far too archaic for VOIP. If Microsoft manages to successfully implement Legal Intercept then it may just hold the rights to the world’s most powerful monitoring system. This is obliviously one of Microsoft’s main goals for its invasive system.

If you are feeling powerless, join the club. You could uninstall Skype, because it remains one of the best, if not the best, VOIP application. After years of use, are we now expected to sit back and relax as our privacy is invaded? India is not as impartial as I am and have warned Skype that if it does not fix its laws relating to Legal Interception then Skype will risk being blocked in India; as this is a market of 1.2-billion potential users, Microsoft will have to work hard to please the Indian telecommunication committees and remain in its good graces.

Legal Interception is not only pervasive in Skype, but will soon be in your email accounts too. The Egyptian government, famous for breaking the privacy laws of its citizens, recently ended a five-month trial of the Legal Interception application in conjunction with Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and various other webmail providers. The software then has the further option of planting its own version of a Trojan horse executable which can be passed on to any computer via social sharing, or portable drives. In yet another irritating blow, Legal Interception will also allow targeted ads based on our user preferences to invade our screens.

Skype has more than 200-million users and, since its inception, it has been exceptionally secretive regarding its security protocols and have refused to reveal any details to the public. It has effectively asked its users to trust it, no matter what it throws at them. Microsoft cannot deny the FBI or the CIA the ability to tap calls. It is therefore placed in the precarious position of infuriating either the user or the government which wishes to track the user.

In a Nutshell: You can uninstall Skype if anonymous tracking enrages you. Otherwise, enjoy a more monitored VOIP existence. Regardless of the steps we take to cover our activities, nothing can keep us out of the spotlight of the tracking tools.

But obviously this wont be abused.

[watercooled]

I've never trusted Skype and it's closed-source approach to security, it didn't ease concern when they were asked a few years back if they could eavesdrop and the answered something like 'we can't tell you that'. I've tried to encourage people using the software to switch (or at the very least try both) to some form of SIP where they have complete control over any security used, but there's no stupid-simple program for it, and it's nowhere near as widespread in desktop use.

Of course, anyone who's been following security news should know that the encryption used by Skype is near useless because of the VBR codec.

I also always assume emails/IM will be monitored so anything private gets encrypted on my end without relying on any pretend closed-source encryption.

Edit: What do MS have to do with this?

[format]

Edit: What do MS have to do with this?

MS bought Skype, no?

[watercooled]

Not sure, don't know much about them beyond software details/'security' .

[Hoonigan]

To be honest with you, this doesn't really bother me.

So long as you're not discussing nuclear bombs or drugs etc. you should be fine.

[Jay]

All communication has a back door, it has never been any different.

[watercooled]

To be honest with you, this doesn't really bother me.

So long as you're not discussing nuclear bombs or drugs etc. you should be fine.

That's completely besides the point.

Besides, I don't trust some spook any more than I'd trust a hacker to not sell my details/conversation. And it's not like governments have a perfect history of keeping collected data out of the wrong hands is it?

[Hoonigan]

And it's not like governments have a perfect history of keeping collected data out of the wrong hands is it?

That is very true, and I suppose some people will use Skype in a much more "professional" manner than I ever do, so I can see how some will be upset/angered by this, but personally, it's not going to affect me in any great way.

The only thing I'm worried about is; what is this paving the way for? What's next? A "Backdoor" into all phonecalls?

[Agent]

So long as you're not discussing nuclear bombs or drugs etc. you should be fine.

It's dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.

Using your example, I find it terrifying that 'drugs' could be used as a reason to allow for such a situation to occur.

[1stRaven]

The only thing I'm worried about is; what is this paving the way for? What's next? A "Backdoor" into all phonecalls?

Already exists in the states by law which I guess is why this backdoor has been introduced. I wouldn't be surprised in the big brother mindset of the UK gov means that they would be happy to use it as well.

[scaryjim]

Given I work for a research unit that analyses addiction treatment, and we use skype for online communication with some of our research partners, we discuss "drugs" over Skype all the time...

On the other hand, I do not and never have used Skype personally, and this is just another reason for me to be very happy with that decision

[TheAnimus]

Firstly, its not really a fair description, its "Government Forces Microsoft to put backdoor in to Skype and they didn't complain loudly about it".

Secondly, if this makes people use an open standard, make SIP much more common, then I'm all for it

[shaithis]

Should make for some great stories in "The Skype on Sunday"