Microsoft Partners with Signal to Bring End-To-End Encryption to Skype (bleepingcomputer.com)

Microsoft and Open Whisper Systems (makers of the Signal app) surprised many on Thursday when they said they are partnering to bring support for end-to-end (E2E) encrypted conversations to Skype. From a report: The new feature, called Skype Private Conversations has been rolled out for initial tests with Skype Insider builds. Private Conversations will encrypt Skype audio calls and text messages. Images, audio or video files sent via Skype's text messaging feature will also be encrypted. Microsoft will be using the Signal open-source protocol to encrypt these communications. This is the same end-to-end encryption protocol used by Facebook for WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and by Google for the Allo app.

Comments

The only question

[Anonymous Coward]

is not if there's a backdoor, but rather, how many backdoors will be present and for whose purposes

Hard to believe

[jez9999]

At a time when so many governments on Earth are scrambling for a way to surveil all communications how likely is it really that Microsoft would being true end-to-end encryption to something like Skype? I bet there's a backdoor.

Yeah, right

[dnaumov]

First they DELIBERATELY weaken the Skype architecture to make it easier for various 3-letter agencies to eavesdrop on Skype calls and now we are supposed to trust they have their users best interest on their mind? Yeah, right. Without access to the source code, why would anyone sane consider the implementation to NOT be broken-by-design?

Re:Yeah, right

[mark-t]

Companies that want their teleconferences protected from everyone else, don't give a shit about the US government snooping on them.

Anyone with even just a vague understanding of how computers work will realize that these two concepts are inherently contradictory. If the US government can eavesdrop, then so can anyone else, with the right know how. Encryption techniques exist, however, where no amount of know-how will actually make it any easier to decrypt... and these are the so-called unbreakable encryptions that law enforcement bitches about every so often, suggesting that they are thwarting law enforcement, and painting companies that utilize such techniques as deliberately working against them.

The thing that these people fail to realize is that those unbreakable encryptions are also thwarting untold numbers of would-be criminals that would be all too happy to snoop on people's personal and private data if they could... and use it to their advantage, and probably cause measurable harm to innocent parties.

Even *IF* the government could supposedly be trusted to not actually abuse such backdoors, there's no possible way to keep the bad guys from getting their hands on them, and doing incalculable levels of harm.

Indeed that is a surprise

[Oswald McWeany]

Microsoft and Open Whisper Systems (makers of the Signal app) surprised many on Thursday when they said they are partnering to bring support for end-to-end (E2E) encrypted conversations to Skype.

That is a surprise. I had no idea Skype still existed.

It's all about the key management

[bigtomrodney]

You can have the strongest end-to-end encryption you want...it doesn't mean much if you don't know how your private and session keys are handled. It's all down to trusting the vendor that you're supposedly hiding your messages from with "end-to-end" encryption.