Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Sunday, 27 July 2008 14:40
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
Despite German officials reportedly saying they could easily listen in to Skype phone calls in 2006, an article from 2007 published by VNUNet
claims the opposite.
This article states, “Jöerg Ziercke, president of Germany's Federal Police Office, told an annual gathering of security and law enforcement officials that Skype is giving the force more problems that traditional telephone tapping.”
The article then quotes Ziercke telling Reuters that: "The encryption with Skype telephone software creates grave difficulties for us. We cannot decipher it. That is why we are talking about source telecommunication surveillance, i.e. getting to the source before encryption or after it has been decrypted."
So, can Skype calls be listening in on, or not? Two government agencies say they can, one says it cannot, and Skype says it won’t comment on the most recent case unveiled by Heise Online.
In Skype’s own Support section and knowledgebase, it has a question asked and answered.
This question is “What type of encryption is used?”
The answer from Skype is
as follows:
“Skype uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), also known as Rijndael, which is used by U.S. Government organizations to protect sensitive, information. Skype uses 256-bit encryption, which has a total of 1.1 x 1077 possible keys, in order to actively encrypt the data in each Skype call or instant message. Skype uses 1024 bit RSA to negotiate symmetric AES keys. User public keys are certified by the Skype server at login using 1536 or 2048-bit RSA certificates.”
Another question Skype poses and answers is: “Is Skype secure?”
Its
answer is:
“Yes. When you call another Skype user your call is encrypted with strong encryption algorithms ensuring you privacy. In some cases your Skype communication may be routed via other users in the peer-to-peer network. Skype encryption protects you from potential eavesdropping from malicious users.”
What about some kind of “comprehensive external security review of Skype, focusing on its encryption methods”? Well, Skype says it has done that, too. Please read on to page 3.
