Skype voice service exposes a users IP address to the world. There are tools, called Skype Resolvers, which can then decipher a Skype username to the IP address of the user. The hacker supplies the target user's Skype account name and instantly retrieved the users IP address. This tool is used for knocking users offline buy acquiring their IP address and then initiating denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks against the IP. Skype resolvers work regardless of privacy settings in the users Skype account.
Skype resolvers can also be used to track users location as they travel between cities.
This type of privacy issue can be mitigated by relaying Skype signal traffic through proxies. Although, there remain other methods of eavesdropping on traffic. The problem - the maximum tolerable Round Trip Time (RTT) of VoIP users is 300 milliseconds (ms) whereas the propagation delay in a fiber optical cable is 200ms. Therefore, when a user in France calls another one in India, the proxy service must incur less than 100ms additional RTT.
Skype resolvers can also be used to track users location as they travel between cities.
This type of privacy issue can be mitigated by relaying Skype signal traffic through proxies. Although, there remain other methods of eavesdropping on traffic. The problem - the maximum tolerable Round Trip Time (RTT) of VoIP users is 300 milliseconds (ms) whereas the propagation delay in a fiber optical cable is 200ms. Therefore, when a user in France calls another one in India, the proxy service must incur less than 100ms additional RTT.
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