[LINK] RFI: Skype Conversation Accessibility

[Kim Holburn]

There was a Chinese bunch that purportedly hacked the protocol.
http://www.pacificepoch.com/newsstories/69400_0_5_0_M/
Strangely the Chinese government doesn't like skype much (because of  
the difficulty of listening in or because the local telecom monopoly  
is losing money or both?)

They can put pressure on the skypeout points
Skype uses peer pressure defense to explain China text censorship
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/20/skype_china_censorship_row/


On 2008/Mar/28, at 6:28 AM, Roger Clarke wrote:
> Does anyone have reliable knowledge or sources re the ability of a  
> third party to access real-time Skype (or other VoIP) conversations?
>
>
> Internet telephone encryption stumps police
> <http://www.theage.com.au/news/voip/internet-telephone-encryption- 
> stumps-police/2007/11/23/1195753285526.html>http:// 
> www.theage.com.au/news/voip/internet-telephone-encryption-stumps- 
> police/2007/11/23/1195753285526.html
>
> November 23, 2007 - 3:17PM
>
> German police are unable to decipher the encryption used in the  
> internet telephone software Skype to monitor calls by suspected  
> criminals and terrorists, Germany's top police officer said on  
> Thursday.
>
> Skype allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet from  
> their computer to other Skype users free of charge.
>
> Law enforcement agencies and intelligence services have used  
> wiretaps since the telephone was invented, but implementing them is  
> much more complex in the modern telecommunications market where the  
> providers are often foreign companies.
>
> "The encryption with Skype telephone software ... creates grave  
> difficulties for us," Joerg Ziercke, president of Germany's Federal  
> Police Office (BKA) told reporters at an annual gathering of  
> security and law enforcement officials.
>
> "We can't decipher it. That's why we're talking about source  
> telecommunication surveillance -- that is, getting to the source  
> before encryption or after it's been decrypted."
>
> Experts say Skype and other Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)  
> calling software are difficult to intercept because they work by  
> breaking up voice data into small packets and switching them along  
> thousands of router paths instead of a constant circuit between two  
> parties, as with a traditional call.
>
> Ziercke said they were not asking Skype to divulge its encryption  
> keys or leave "back doors open" for German and other country's law  
> enforcement authorities.
>
> "There are no discussions with Skype. I don't think that would  
> help," he said, adding that he did not want to harm the  
> competitiveness of any company. "I don't think that any provider  
> would go for that."
>
> Ziercke said there was a vital need for German law enforcement  
> agencies to have the ability to conduct on-line searches of  
> computer hard drives of suspected terrorists using "Trojan horse"  
> spyware.
>
> These searches are especially important in cases where the suspects  
> are aware that their Internet traffic and phone calls may be  
> monitored and choose to store sensitive information directly on  
> their hard drives without emailing it.
>
> Spyware computer searches are illegal in Germany, where people are  
> sensitive about police surveillance due to the history of the  
> Nazis' Gestapo secret police and the former East German Stasi.
>
> Ziercke said worries were overblown and that on-line searches would  
> need to be conducted only on rare occasions.
>
> "We currently have 230 proceedings related to suspected Islamists,"  
> Ziercke said. "I can imagine that in two or three of those we would  
> like to do this."
>
> Reuters
>
> -- 
> Roger Clarke                  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/ 
> Roger.Clarke/
> 			            Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St,  
> Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
>                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
> mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http:// 
> www.xamax.com.au/
>
> Visiting Professor in Info Science & Eng  Australian National  
> University
> Visiting Professor in the eCommerce Program      University of Hong  
> Kong
> Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni  
> of NSW
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--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request

Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny.
                           -- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961