Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

More Skype Back Door Speculation

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i'm-your-backdoor-man dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to reports, there may be a back door built into Skype, which allows connections to be bugged. The company has declined to expressly deny the allegations. At a meeting with representatives of ISPs and the Austrian regulator on lawful interception of IP based services held on 25th June, high-ranking officials at the Austrian interior ministry revealed that it is not a problem for them to listen in on Skype conversations."

4 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. Open source VoIP alternatives? by vertinox · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't use Skype (or VoIP for that matter) but I would be curious if anyone knows of any alternatives that is completely open.

    --
    "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
    -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
    1. Re:Open source VoIP alternatives? by NormalVisual · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The thing is, I'd imagine any agency that can get a warrant to use the backdoor in Skype can also get a warrant to examine your net connection for voice traffic. VoIP implemented over SIP/RTP is quite easy to listen in on if you have access to the entire bit stream since practically nobody encrypts the RTP stream.

      --
      Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
    2. Re:Open source VoIP alternatives? by davester666 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Oh, for the good old days, when you actually needed a warrant.

      Now they just get your packets to route across a border, and then can listen in at will [if you're not in the US].

      If you do happen to live in the US, they just declare [as in, speak into the air] "This person is obviously an terrorist, an enemy combatant not in an official uniform, therefore, I can listen to all their phone calls.". Then the phone and/or VOIP company is required to permit the wiretap. This used to require a photocopied letter, but those were just too much of a hassle to carry around...

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  2. Re:Decode the protocol? by mrogers · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The code is heavily obfuscated to prevent reverse engineering (encrypted code, checksums, debugger detection, all kinds of fun).