Skype under attack.

[ИнфоПоиск]

Chinese Skype accused of spying on users

Chinese Skype are accused of espionage.

Skype's Internet telephony system is suspected of spying on users in the Chinese Internet segment.

Researchers at the Citizen Lab Center at the University of Toronto (Canada) say that Tom-Skype, a joint venture of Ebay with the Chinese side, intercepts messages and some user conversations in the interests of the PRC government. Canadian researchers, based on an in-depth analysis of the algorithms of the Tom-Skype program, found that the servers responsible for transmitting information contain filters that respond to certain words and their combinations, and then begin to monitor the source of messages.

According to Canadian researchers, the filters respond to texts that speak of Taiwan's independence, the banned sectarian group Falun Gong, the political opposition, and other topics sensitive to official Beijing.

The report said that the service permanently collects logs and intercepts millions of records, which also include personal user data, the history of calls and contacts of people, as well as data regarding calls to mobile and landline phones outside of China.

However, Canadian researchers say the gigantic spying scheme for Chinese Skype users is only half the battle. The danger lies in the insufficient protection of communication servers, weak data encryption algorithms and the possibility of obtaining closed logs remotely, which can be used not only by customers of this system in Beijing, but also by hackers who trade in personal data.

source

 

[ИнфоПоиск]

German authorities use listening programs

The German authorities use programs to listen to Skype.


The German authorities are trying to establish maximum control over citizens and eradicate the concept of confidentiality. A spokesman for the German Pirate Party said his house was ransacked after the party published documents testifying to the government’s use of the Trojan to intercept Skype calls. In addition, the server of one of the party members was captured. Pirate Party is known for its work to prevent the authorities from over-monitoring the inhabitants of Germany, so when an unknown person sent the party a document about the Trojan, Pirate Party members did not hesitate to make it public. The response of the authorities was not long in coming; its form, by and large, did not come as a surprise. The captured server is unlikely to be useful to the police, since all information on it is encrypted.

The published document is interesting in that at the end of last year, German policemen recognized their helplessness in listening to Skype conversations. Then the head of the German police, Joerg Ziercke, assured that the police would not personally contact the developers of the program. Apparently, the country's law enforcement agencies managed to do without involving the creators of the most popular VoIP program.

source

 

[ИнфоПоиск]

Schegolev: Skype in Russia will not be closed Skype in Russia will not be closed. The Russian authorities do not plan to close the popular Skype Internet telephony service, said Igor Shchegolev, head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, during an online conference on Wednesday. "There are no plans to cancel or close Skype in Russia," the minister said. Schegolev noted that Skype, like IP-telephony (VoIP), is a service based on a dynamically developing technology. Now the question is how to regulate the use of such technologies, including from an economic point of view, the minister said. Recall that in July this year, information appeared that in Russia the work of the world's largest IP-telephony service may be limited. Then the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) announced its intention to prepare amendments to the legislation that would allow regulating this market segment and protecting the interests of Russian mobile companies. Representatives of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs noted that services such as Skype or ICQ are not controlled by the state. In their opinion, these foreign brands threaten the development of Russian business. It was also noted that conversations via Skype are not amenable to wiretapping of special services. source

 

[ИнфоПоиск]

Skype users are at risk of becoming victims of a network worm Today, Bkis research company reported that Skype Internet telephony system users are at risk of becoming victims of a network worm W32.Skyhoo.Worm. Symantec warned last week that the worm was spreading among users of Yahoo Instant Messenger. Bkis notes that the Skype version is a slightly modified version discovered by Symantec. Among Yahoo and Skype users, the Internet worm spreads in a very similar way. In most cases, automated messages containing the words photo or photos, as well as a large number of emoticons, are used to send a network worm. In Windows, the user receives an Internet worm, and when you try to start a file, it activates. Firstly, the worm starts sending its copies across the user's entire contact list, and secondly, it replaces the% WinDir% / infocard.exe file code and adds its communication data to the Windows Firewall white list. Later, the worm modifies the registry and disables access to Windows Update on the computer. According to Symantec Security Response, the authors of this network worm also create a botnet from computers previously infected with the network worm. The Skype version of the worm can also connect to a number of IRC channels to receive remote commands and tries to block the work of popular antiviruses using the rootkit technique. source

 

[ИнфоПоиск]

The hacker announced the disclosure of the source code for the Skype protocols The hacker announced the disclosure of the source code for the Skype encryption protocols The hacker under the pseudonym Sean O`Neill said that he and his colleagues were able to obtain the source code for the proprietary Skype encryption protocols. O`Neill spoke about protocol decompilation on his blog, which is currently unavailable. The hacker said that he managed to get the code a few years ago. He kept it secret, but a few months ago part of the code fell into the hands of attackers. O`Neill reported the leak on Skype. He did not cite the administration’s response on his blog, but said that he was "rude." After that, the hacker decided to declare the disclosure of code on his blog. The post was published under the heading "Skype’s secret secret." In it, O`Neal gave a link to the Cryptolib.com resource, where the received codes were allegedly posted. Representatives of Skype, in turn, denied the fact of a code leak and said that the person hiding under the nickname Sean O`Neill is a spammer Yaroslav Charnovsky. Opening Skype source code would allow developers to create independent Skype clients and web services. The source code is protected by an RC4 stream cipher. source

 

[Матушкин Андрей Николаевич]

Skype. Thank you!

 

[частный детектив Кременчуг]

I read somewhere (I can’t find the article in Google; I probably deleted it) that Skype conversations can be eavesdropped by intercepting packets from the IP port 80 and 443 of the subscriber, so turn off the 443 and 80 ports for incoming calls in the settings and enter the port for random ones but do not leave the port that skype registered during installation.

 

[Детективное агентство ИКС-Инфо.]

Microsoft patents Skype surveillance

Microsoft patented technology for tracking Skype users

Microsoft's patent application for secretly intercepting conversations on Skype and other networks based on modern communication standards has become known. It allows satisfying the requirements of law enforcement agencies in facilitating investigations, the failure of which on the part of Skype has been repeatedly criticized.
Microsoft is patenting the technology of "legal interception" (Legal Intercept), which allows you to secretly record calls made on Skype and other networks based on VoIP technology. The application was submitted in December 2009, long before the company announced the acquisition of Skype.

Legal Intercept is reminiscent of standard tools that are used by telecommunication companies and manufacturers of communications equipment in order to meet government requirements for wiretapping. The technology changes the data used to establish the connection, paving the route in such a way as to include an invisible conversation recording agent in it. “The data associated with the connection request is changed so that the connection passes through a path containing a recording agent,” the document says. - Modification may involve, for example, adding, modifying and / or deleting data blocks within data. After modification, the data enters the protocol object, which uses them to establish a communication session. Since the data has been modified in a certain way, the protocol object chooses the path containing the recording agent. After that, the recording agent can quietly record information. "
Microsoft argues that existing methods designed to intercept conversations on analog lines in VoIP networks and other networks based on modern technologies do not work. According to professor of law Michael Frumkin of the School of Law at the University of Miami, technology will help Microsoft bring the service in accordance with regulatory standards, in particular, in accordance with the law on the assistance of telecommunications companies to law enforcement agencies (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act , CALEA), which calls for the ability to intercept conversations. In turn, Jeffrey Chester, executive director of Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy organization, believes that this technology will help Microsoft pursue strategic goals, in particular, to integrate Skype with other products. It is possible that Microsoft will use Legal Intercept not for its intended purpose, but in order to analyze voice traffic and deliver contextual advertising.
Recall, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Skype for $ 8.5 billion in May 2011. Skype is the most popular VoIP telephony service in the world, including video conferencing and text messaging. By the end of 2010, the subscriber base of the service exceeded 660 million users. Skype does not disclose encryption mechanisms for voice traffic, which has repeatedly caused discontent from law enforcement agencies. For example, in April, the deputy head of the FSB’s scientific and technical service, Alexander Andreechkin, proposed banning Skype in Russia as a service that threatens national security. A patent application does not mean that Microsoft will necessarily violate this principle, but, in any case, indicates the likely ways of further development of the project.

source inattack.ru

 

[Матушкин Андрей Николаевич]

Re: Microsoft patented Skype surveillance

Thanks for working on the forum.

 

[Матушкин Андрей Николаевич]

Microsoft may transfer FSB encryption algorithms Skype

Microsoft does not exclude the transfer of cryptographic algorithms of the Internet-telephony service Skype to Russian special services. According to the head of Microsoft in the Russian Federation Nikolai Pryanishnikov, the general approach of Microsoft in Russia is cooperation with the state.

In particular, speaking at a press conference today, Mr. Pryanishnikov said that this issue has not yet been discussed with regulators. “I would like to do this,” quotes RBC news agency as saying. However, according to Mr. Pryanishnikov, you must first go through several stages of integrating Skype into Microsoft.

He also noted that the general approach of Microsoft in Russia is cooperation with the state. In particular, the corporation opened the source codes of its software products to the Russian special services. “We want to develop our joint laboratory with the FSB,” added Mr. Pryanishnikov.

He also recalled that Microsoft, when buying Skype, announced that it did not intend to "break the company's business model." Skype will be managed as a separate business model in the structure of Microsoft.

Earlier, in April 2011, an FSB spokesman said that the uncontrolled use of Skype and Gmail could lead to a widespread threat to Russia's security, and service encryption systems make it difficult to carry out operational measures. Later, the FSB clarified that it does not insist on banning these services in Russia, but suggests introducing them into the legal framework.

On May 10, 2011, Skype was acquired by Microsoft for $ 8.5 billion. According to the terms of the deal, after the merger, Skype will become a division of Microsoft and will implement support for its Xbox set-top box, Kinect controller, as well as phones and other Windows devices.

In turn, Microsoft will connect Skype users with its Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live, and other communities.

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