http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsID=9847 By John E. Dunn Techworld 20 August 2007 Skype is an easy target for hacking and offers a way inside a corporate network. That's according to a report from managed security company Network Box which said Skype could be undermined by a malevolent insider working to open hidden backdoors. It's more bad news for Skype, following a week in which its users have struggled with crippling service outages. In the short report, Skype Friend of Foe?, Network Box suggests how the program could be compromised. Because Skype uses a proprietary protocol to evade detection, it could not only stymie blocking systems, but if hijacked would be a perfect system to compromise the security of any communications made using it. Any built-in hack would be invisible to corporate security systems until it was too late. The security of the Skype system depends entirely on the good will of Skypes programmers and the organisation running Skypes back-end servers. It is possible that there are back doors in the system, allowing the Skype organisation or others to eavesdrop or record Skype conversations, the report says. As well as hiding itself, Skype has also established a cycle of continuous upgrades that made effective detection and management tricky. The Skype program can update itself every time it runs, so the security over the overall system can change without warning or even a change in appearance. Systems could be brought down by an error in this download. With last weeks outages in mind, it concludes that even companies willing to use the programme in a proxy setup, should assume a degree of unreliability and insecurity when compared to running standards-based VoIP over a VPN. Other recommendations include being careful about the identity of apparently legitimate Skype contacts, using a login for Skype not used to access any other system, and making sure that Skype users inside companies dont identify the companies they are working for in their user names or Skype profiles. Worries over Skypes security are nothing new, some thing the company has attempted to address with a business version that claims to be easier for IT administrators to manage and control. ____________________________________ Attend HITBSecConf2007 - Malaysia Taking place September 3-6 2007 featuring seven tracks of technical training and a dual-track security conference with keynote speakers Lance Spitzner and Mikko Hypponen! - Book your seats today! http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2007kl/
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