Skype Surveillance: Possible or No?

AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson released an interesting article today, "Skype Use May Make Eavesdropping Passe." At first glance you might think the message is that Skype's encryption makes it impossible for government to monitor Skype calls.

But the article does make the point that, even though Skype calls are encrypted, it is still possible for an eavesdropper to tell who is calling whom and whether the two parties are using voice, text or video.

The article quotes security expert Bruce Schneier: "What you and I are saying is much less important than the fact that you and I are talking. Against traffic analysis, encryption is irrelevant."

Svensson's article says that Skype's encryption "would stymie the kind of broad eavesdropping that the National Security Agency is reputed to be performing, in which it scans thousands or millions of calls at a time for certain phrases. Even a weakly encrypted call would force an eavesdropper to spend hours of computer time cracking it."

This latter statement does suggest that Skype calling could constitute a significant security risk. The article quotes Skype's security chief as saying that Skype cooperates with "all lawful requests from relevant authorities."

AB -- 2/16/06