The “Break it Down” Blog

Heise Online reports that there have been recent findings that suggest there are surveillance back doors built directly into Skype.

While Skype refuses to comment directly on the findings by the community, at an ISP meeting on June 25th higher-ups at an unnamed Austrian ISP made the comment that spying on Skype-based phone calls was not a problem.

It has long been assumed that special decryption keys for Skype media streams has been distributed to interested parties that allow them tap in and decrypt any Skype conversation.

Besides the obvious surveillance implications there are now growing concerns from enterprises that have either deployed Skype enterprise-wide or are considering it.

While most people would shrug at this news, imagining disconnected Research & Development groups from high end technology companies that shape our future (like Intel, Cisco, etc.) being concerned about some random ISP employee listening in on research meetings is a valid concern.

Thanks Heise Online!