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Research Group Pushes to Ban Skype

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the only-as-secure-as-you-make-it dept.

cowmix writes "Hot on the heals of Skype being purchased by Ebay, a research group called Info-Tech just put out a recommendation to its customers that all corporations should ban the use of Skype on their networks. The reports sites a laundry list of issues it feels plagues Skype, most of which will have a familiar ring (ie the normal anti-IM and P2P talking points). Will this cool Skype's rapid progress into the business arena?"

7 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. Non-issue really by aussie_a · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Companies that are already banning peer-to-peer applications, such as instant messaging, should add Skype to its list of unsanctioned software programs

    Well no shit, sherlock. If a company feels that IM software (such as AIM or MSN) is a security risk, then of course they should consider Skype a security risk. It's called consistency. This is really a non-issue. New messaging program comes out (which in a way, is what Skype is), companies that ban other messaging programs add it to their ban list. Those that don't ban messaging programs, don't.

    This is pretty much a non-article. And it won't slow the proliferation of Skype in the business world, because I doubt companies that banned other IM programs, really needed Info-Tech to tell them to add Skype to the list (I'm sure Info-Tech is just doing it to be consistent as well).

  2. Research? by ageitgey · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Reasons to ban Skype:
    • 3. Enterprises using Skype risk a communication barrier with countries and institutions that have already banned the service.
    Really? Are you serious? That's what you guys came up with? Should we ban blackberry pagers because not all employees have mobile email access and thus might face a communication barrier with those who do?
    --
    Uninnovate - Only the finest in engineering.
  3. Flawed analysis by d_jedi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    - Skype is not standards-compliant, allowing it and any vulnerability to
                  pass through corporate firewalls.

    And how would this be different if Skype was standards compliant?

            - Skype's encryption is closed source and prone to man-in-the-middle
                  attacks. There are also some unanswered questions about how well the
                  keys are managed.

    Ooh.. closed source is evil! By this logic, Info-Tech should recommend banning Windows (to the delight, I'm sure, of many /.ers)

            - Enterprises using Skype risk a communication barrier with countries
                  and institutions that have already banned the service.

    Is this a joke? I dunno about you, but I haven't seen any companies completely give up.. what's that thing?.. the telephone in favour of Skype..

    Skype is a useful tool. That's all I've got to say about that.

    --
    I am the maverick of Slashdot
  4. Re:Vast government powers by mmkkbb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Countries don't ban Skype because of security issues; they ban it to prevent competition with the phone monopoly.

    --
    -mkb
  5. Re:Valid Points by Spoke · · Score: 4, Insightful

    All of the points in the article were valid points.

    Not even close to all of the points were valid points. Not even half of them made any sense! And you can't even call TFA an article, it's a friggin' press release.

    VOIP, closed source and NAT traversal are hardly anything that your typical business spends any time worrying about. In fact, VOIP, closed source software and NAT traversal is standard operating procedure for most companies (or at least 2 of 3 of them).

  6. Petty and un-ethical! by exaviger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This sounds like a direct attack on skype

    Replace the word skype with virtually any other software and the article would still be valid.

    I feel sick when i read such articles and I feel even sicker when an article like this http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/netsp/ar ticle.php/3563226 gets relased at virtually the same time.

    I am not a conspiracy theory kind of guy, but why the sudden noise about skype's insecure desgin using the http protocol to work over NAT at the same time that Microsoft and Cisco find a way for SIP to work "securely" over NAT?

    Call me paranoid but I find this very weird!

  7. WTF... by Hymer · · Score: 4, Insightful
    from TFA :
    1. Skype is not standards-compliant, allowing it and any vulnerability to pass through corporate firewalls.
    2. Skype's encryption is closed source and prone to man-in-the-middle attacks. There are also some unanswered questions about how well the keys are managed.
    3. Enterprises using Skype risk a communication barrier with countries and institutions that have already banned the service.
    4. Skype is undetectable, untraceable, and unauditable, putting organizations that are subject to compliance laws at risk.
    5. The question of whether VoIP calls constitute a business record is a legal quagmire. Throwing Skype into the communications mix further clouds the issue.
    ...and what I think about them...
    1. Neither is MS Office (or several other MS products), Adobe Photoshop etc.
    2. So are several other encryppiton schemes... and a man in the middle attack is in fact easiest to make on a POTS, just connect a speaker to the wire.
    3. Use SkypeOut, POTS or a cell phone ?
    4. That seems to be the mantra now : encapsulate everything in HTTP
    5. Busuness record ? if it is not on paper or other approved medium it is not a valid record... and btw. VoIP on a Cisco CallManager is strictly speaking still just VoIP, so I presume that several large banks have the same problem ?
    No, I do not defend Skype, I do however attack Info-Tech's lack of sanity !!