• Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
MUST READ

McDonald’s job app exposes data of 64 Million applicants

 | 

Athlete or Hacker? Russian basketball player accused in U.S. ransomware case

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Citrix NetScaler ADC and Gateway flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

UK NCA arrested four people over M&S, Co-op cyberattacks

 | 

PerfektBlue Bluetooth attack allows hacking infotainment systems of Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Skoda

 | 

Qantas data breach impacted 5.7 million individuals

 | 

DoNot APT is expanding scope targeting European foreign ministries

 | 

Nippon Steel Solutions suffered a data breach following a zero-day attack

 | 

Iranian group Pay2Key.I2P ramps Up ransomware attacks against Israel and US with incentives for affiliates

 | 

Hackers weaponize Shellter red teaming tool to spread infostealers

 | 

Microsoft Patch Tuesday security updates for July 2025 fixed a zero-day

 | 

Italian police arrested a Chinese national suspected of cyberespionage on a U.S. warrant

 | 

U.S. CISA adds MRLG, PHPMailer, Rails Ruby on Rails, and Synacor Zimbra Collaboration Suite flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

IT Worker arrested for selling access in $100M PIX cyber heist

 | 

New Batavia spyware targets Russian industrial enterprises

 | 

Taiwan flags security risks in popular Chinese apps after official probe

 | 

U.S. CISA adds Google Chromium V8 flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

 | 

Hunters International ransomware gang shuts down and offers free decryption keys to all victims

 | 

SECURITY AFFAIRS MALWARE NEWSLETTER ROUND 52

 | 

Security Affairs newsletter Round 531 by Pierluigi Paganini – INTERNATIONAL EDITION

 | 
  • Home
  • Cyber Crime
  • Cyber warfare
  • APT
  • Data Breach
  • Deep Web
  • Digital ID
  • Hacking
  • Hacktivism
  • Intelligence
  • Internet of Things
  • Laws and regulations
  • Malware
  • Mobile
  • Reports
  • Security
  • Social Networks
  • Terrorism
  • ICS-SCADA
  • POLICIES
  • Contact me
  • Home
  • Laws and regulations
  • Security
  • Skype, Apple, too many doubts about the privacy

Skype, Apple, too many doubts about the privacy

Pierluigi Paganini July 24, 2012

We daily assist to continuous violations to user’s privacy, mobile apps that expose its data, communication channels apparently secure that reveals law enforcement interferences or network devices suspected to contains a secret backdoor.

The imperative is the monitoring of users, for commercial and national security purposes, we have read in many occasions of the development of surveillance systems pushed by governments all around the world.

In this weeks it has been a long discussed the real level of privacy granted by the Skype application that was considered historically wiretap-proof tool.

The popular video chat service Skype was the last bulwark of privacy, a solid barrier to law enforcement agencies able to protect the confidentiality of user’s conversations. Let’s remind the failed attempt of the German police to intercept Skype communications that also tried to catch communication using an end user Trojan commissioned to a private company.

“Skype interception is impossible”,

that’s the common creed thanks to encryption mechanisms implemented and a distributed peer-to-peer architecture, that’s why  experts have always considered impossible to eavesdrop on a conversation held over Skype.

Last year Microsoft acquired Skype for $8.5 Billion and many experts suspected that something was changing in the architecture of the popular communication system.

One month after the acquisition Microsoft obtained a patent for “legal intercept” technology specific for VOIP services such as Skype. This is pure randomness? Hard to believe! The second question is:

Has been the technology integrated in Skype platform?

It’s impossible to say for sure, but the probability is really high.

In the hacker communities many voices sustain the Skype architecture has been modified to enable “lawful interception” of calls.

Of course Skype refused the charges justifying the modifies as a necessary upgrade, denying any surveillance purpose, anyway Skype PR man Chaim Haas, referring “company policy,” and industrial secrets wouldn’t confirm or deny, declaring about  chat service

“[it] co-operates with law enforcement agencies as much as is legally and technically possible.”

Analyzing Skype’s privacy policy appears clear that the company is able spy on user communications communicating them to authorities under explicit request.

 

Under Section 3 of the privacy policy, it is stated that

“Skype, Skype’s local partner, or the operator or company facilitating your communication may provide personal data, communications content and/or traffic data to an appropriate judicial, law enforcement or government authority lawfully requesting such information. Skype will provide all reasonable assistance and information to fulfill this request and you hereby consent to such disclosure..”

Under Section 12 it stated that

“Your instant messaging (IM) communications-content may be stored by Skype (a) to convey and synchronise your messages and (b) to enable you to retrieve the messages and history where possible. IM messages are currently stored for a maximum of 30 days unless otherwise permitted or required by law. Voicemail messages are currently stored for a maximum of 60 days unless otherwise permitted or required by law. Skype will at all times take appropriate technical and security measures to protect your information. By using this product, you consent to the storage of your IM communications as described above.”

With 663 million registered users, Skype represents a precious mine of information, a great concentrator of communications exposed to interception.

But meanwhile we are discussing about Skype and user’s privacy, another news catch my attention, Apple has pulled from its App Store an application, named Clueful,  that is able to reveal how the software installed on user’s iPhones is managing his data.

The app has been developed by security firm Bitdefender and it’s a valid privacy tool, the reason of the exclusion is a mystery. Bitdefender said

“Apple informed our product development team of the removal – for reasons we are studying – after it was approved under the same rules”

The application is really useful because it analyzes all the apps installed on the mobile providing detailed info on the data they manage and the way they transmit them.

Official website reports:

“Clueful is the only way to really understand iOS apps, how they use your private data and treat your privacy. This one-of-a-kind product identifies intrusive applications and shows you what they do behind your back.”

A study on 60,000 popular apps found that 42.5 per cent do not encrypt users’ sensible information and don’t adopt any protection mechanism for data transmission. Around 40% percent of apps can track a user’s location, and almost 20% percent access the entire address book of the mobile.

The respect of user’s privacy is one of the most important argument in the technological scenario, we assist to continue violations and it could be necessary the definition of a global recognized ethical code that requiring companies to provide users all information relating to your use of their data, hoping in future to avoid having to read such news.

Pierluigi Paganini


facebook linkedin twitter

Apple backdoor monitoring privacy privacy policy Skype

you might also like

Pierluigi Paganini July 12, 2025
McDonald’s job app exposes data of 64 Million applicants
Read more
Pierluigi Paganini July 11, 2025
U.S. CISA adds Citrix NetScaler ADC and Gateway flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Read more

leave a comment

newsletter

Subscribe to my email list and stay
up-to-date!

    recent articles

    McDonald’s job app exposes data of 64 Million applicants

    Hacking / July 12, 2025

    Athlete or Hacker? Russian basketball player accused in U.S. ransomware case

    Uncategorized / July 11, 2025

    U.S. CISA adds Citrix NetScaler ADC and Gateway flaw to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

    Hacking / July 11, 2025

    UK NCA arrested four people over M&S, Co-op cyberattacks

    Cyber Crime / July 10, 2025

    PerfektBlue Bluetooth attack allows hacking infotainment systems of Mercedes, Volkswagen, and Skoda

    Hacking / July 10, 2025

    To contact me write an email to:

    Pierluigi Paganini :
    pierluigi.paganini@securityaffairs.co

    LEARN MORE

    QUICK LINKS

    • Home
    • Cyber Crime
    • Cyber warfare
    • APT
    • Data Breach
    • Deep Web
    • Digital ID
    • Hacking
    • Hacktivism
    • Intelligence
    • Internet of Things
    • Laws and regulations
    • Malware
    • Mobile
    • Reports
    • Security
    • Social Networks
    • Terrorism
    • ICS-SCADA
    • POLICIES
    • Contact me

    Copyright@securityaffairs 2024

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities...
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT