CyberLaw Blog

Archive for the ‘Skype’ Category

eBay could ditch uncrackable Skype tech

Spooks likely watching with interest

Skype’s proprietary scrambling technology is purportedly the bane of electronic spies at the NSA and GCHQ, and now in a move sure to spark conspiracy theories, eBay has quietly revealed it could rip out and replace the code at its core.…

(Via The Register – Comms.)

Europe ditches Skype probe: “

Calling for clarity

Eurojust – the EU body for judicial cooperation – is not investigating ways to intercept Skype calls, contrary to reports earlier this week.…

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(Via The Register – Public Sector.)

EUROJUST: “The Hague, 20 February 2009

Eurojust coordinates internet telephony investigations

Ms Carmen Manfredda, acting National Member for Italy, will take the lead in coordinating a Europe-wide investigation on internet telephony (VoIP).

At the request of Direzione Nazionale Antimafia in Rome, the Italian Desk at Eurojust will play a key role in the coordination and cooperation of the investigations on the use of internet telephony systems (VoIP), such as ‘Skype’. Eurojust will be available to assist all European law enforcement and prosecution authorities in the Member States. The purpose of Eurojust’s coordination role is to overcome the technical and judicial obstacles to the interception of internet telephony systems, taking into account the various data protection rules and civil rights.
Background
Criminals in Italy are increasingly making phone calls over the internet in order to avoid getting caught through mobile phone intercepts. Police officers in Milan say organised crime, arms and drugs traffickers, and prostitution rings are turning to Skype and other systems of VoIP in order to frustrate investigators. Skype’s encryption system is a secret which the company refuses to share with the authorities. Investigators have become increasingly reliant on wiretaps in recent years. Customs and tax police in Milan have highlighted the Skype issue. They overheard a suspected cocaine trafficker telling an accomplice to switch to Skype in order to get details of a 2kg drug consignment. Investigators are convinced that the interception of telephone calls have become an essential tool of the police, who spend millions of Euros each year tracking down crime through wiretaps of landlines and mobile phones.

Following a meeting with the judicial authorities in Milan, Italy, Ms Manfredda commented: ‘The possibility of intercepting internet telephony will be an essential tool in the fight against international organised crime within Europe and beyond. Our aim is not to stop users from taking advantage of internet telephony, but to prevent criminals from using Skype and other systems to plan and organise their unlawful actions. Eurojust will make all possible efforts to coordinate and assist in the cooperation between Member States’.

Joannes THUY
Press Officer & Spokesperson
EUROJUST
Maanweg 174, NL-2516 AB The Hague
The Netherlands
Tel +31 70 412 5508 – Fax +31 70 412 5005
E-mail: jthuy@eurojust.europa.eu”

(Via .)

Mozilla, Skype support DMCA jailbreaking exemption: “The Mozilla Corporation and Skype Communications have both filed papers in support of a proposed DMCA exemption for the jailbreaking of smartphones.

(Via Macworld.)

Skype calls’ immunity to police phone tapping threatened: “Suspicious phone conversations on Skype could be targeted for tapping as part of a pan-European crackdown.

(Via Macworld.)

IT – Italy police warn of Skype threat: “(BBC)
Criminals in Italy are increasingly making phone calls over the internet in order to avoid getting caught through mobile phone intercepts, police say.
Officers in Milan say organised crime, arms and drugs traffickers, and prostitution rings are turning to Skype in order to frustrate investigators. The police say Skype’s encryption system is a secret which the company refuses to share with the authorities.”

(Via QuickLinks Update.)

NSA offering ‘billions’ for Skype eavesdrop solution: “

Business model for P2P firm at last?

Counter Terror Expo News of a possible viable business model for P2P VoIP network Skype emerged today, at the Counter Terror Expo in London. An industry source disclosed that America’s supersecret National Security Agency (NSA) is offering ‘billions’ to any firm which can offer reliable eavesdropping on Skype IM and voice traffic.…

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(Via The Register – Comms.)

Mumbai terrorists thwarted security agencies by using internet telephones: “The terrorists who attacked Mumbai were able to thwart security agency
attempts to monitor their communications by using an internet telephony
service similar to Skype, the free tool used by millions of ordinary web
surfers, Indian officials have said.”

(Via Tech and Web from Times Online.)

More on Skype surveillance in China…

Skype spies give pause for thought in China: “Most Chinese who use Skype – or at least its Chinese version TOM-Skype – were
thrilled to find a way to make free phone calls. There were also a few who
were delighted to find a way to chat while circumventing the all-seeing eye
of the state security. But today those few were scurrying to find a new way
to communicate after it emerged that Skype’s Chinese partner had been
archiving politically sensitive words and messages – and possibly even the
identities of those whose conversations could be deemed sensitive.”

(Via Tech and Web from Times Online.)

China Skype service snags and stores users’ messages: “

More than a million messages logged

Human rights advocates have uncovered a huge surveillance system in China that monitors and archives text messages sent with the Tom-Skype chat client when they contain politically charged words.…

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(Via The Register – Comms.)