NSA docs boast they can wiretap Skype video calls
Jul 12, 2013 6:01:37 GMT -5
Post by popcorn on Jul 12, 2013 6:01:37 GMT -5
NSA docs boast: Now we can wiretap Skype video calls 
Skype now has a backdoor that permits government surveillance of users’ video and audio calls, according to a new report in the Guardian.
The report, based on leaked slides from the National Security Agency, appears to confirm growing suspicions about the popular video chat service — and indicates calls may be monitored as easily as an old-fashioned phone call.
One document quoted by the newspaper says intelligence analysts began to be able to monitor Skype video calls in July 2012: “The audio portions of these sessions have been processed correctly all along, but without the accompanying video. Now, analysts will have the complete ‘picture.’”
This is a dramatic change from Skype’s previous apparent resistance to eavesdropping.
In 2008, when the company was owned by eBay instead of Microsoft, a Skype spokeswoman told CNET: “We have not received any subpoenas or court orders asking us to perform a live interception or wiretap of Skype-to-Skype communications. In any event, because of Skype’s peer-to-peer architecture and encryption techniques, Skype would not be able to comply with such a request.”
CNET asked Microsoft Wednesday morning whether that statement was still correct. Microsoft did not respond.
It’s possible for companies to create communications systems using strong end-to-end encryption believed to be proof against government snoops. Silent Circle, Off-the-Record Messaging for instant messages, and e-mail messages encrypted with PGP do precisely that.
But few companies take that step, which can be a significant engineering expense and complicated for customers to use. Another classified document, citing collaboration between NSA and FBI, said: “Feedback indicated that a collected Skype call was very clear and the metadata looked complete. Collaborative teamwork was the key to the successful addition of another provider to the PRISM system.”
After buying Skype, Microsoft dramatically overhauled its architecture, replacing peer-to-peer “super nodes” with thousands of servers run by Microsoft — a more centralized approach that may have made it easier for government eavesdroppers. Around the same time, Microsoft would no longer stand by Skype’s earlier claim to be wiretap-unfriendly.
read more:
news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57593339-38/nsa-docs-boast-now-we-can-wiretap-skype-video-calls/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-PoliticsandLaw
Skype now has a backdoor that permits government surveillance of users’ video and audio calls, according to a new report in the Guardian.
The report, based on leaked slides from the National Security Agency, appears to confirm growing suspicions about the popular video chat service — and indicates calls may be monitored as easily as an old-fashioned phone call.
One document quoted by the newspaper says intelligence analysts began to be able to monitor Skype video calls in July 2012: “The audio portions of these sessions have been processed correctly all along, but without the accompanying video. Now, analysts will have the complete ‘picture.’”
This is a dramatic change from Skype’s previous apparent resistance to eavesdropping.
In 2008, when the company was owned by eBay instead of Microsoft, a Skype spokeswoman told CNET: “We have not received any subpoenas or court orders asking us to perform a live interception or wiretap of Skype-to-Skype communications. In any event, because of Skype’s peer-to-peer architecture and encryption techniques, Skype would not be able to comply with such a request.”
CNET asked Microsoft Wednesday morning whether that statement was still correct. Microsoft did not respond.
It’s possible for companies to create communications systems using strong end-to-end encryption believed to be proof against government snoops. Silent Circle, Off-the-Record Messaging for instant messages, and e-mail messages encrypted with PGP do precisely that.
But few companies take that step, which can be a significant engineering expense and complicated for customers to use. Another classified document, citing collaboration between NSA and FBI, said: “Feedback indicated that a collected Skype call was very clear and the metadata looked complete. Collaborative teamwork was the key to the successful addition of another provider to the PRISM system.”
After buying Skype, Microsoft dramatically overhauled its architecture, replacing peer-to-peer “super nodes” with thousands of servers run by Microsoft — a more centralized approach that may have made it easier for government eavesdroppers. Around the same time, Microsoft would no longer stand by Skype’s earlier claim to be wiretap-unfriendly.
read more:
news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57593339-38/nsa-docs-boast-now-we-can-wiretap-skype-video-calls/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-PoliticsandLaw