Simson Garfinkel analyses Skype - Open Society Institute

[David Wagner]

In article <41E07994.5060004 at systemics.com> you write:
>Voice Over Internet Protocol and Skype Security
>Simson L. Garfinkel
>http://www.soros.org/initiatives/information/articles_publications/articles/security_20050107/OSI_Skype5.pdf

>Is Skype secure?

The answer appears to be, "no one knows".  The report accurately reports
that because the security mechanisms in Skype are secret, it is impossible
to analyze meaningfully its security.  Most of the discussion of the
potential risks and questions seems quite good to me.

But in one or two places the report says things like "A conversation on
Skype is vastly more private than a traditional analog or ISDN telephone"
and "Skype is more secure than today's VoIP systems".  I don't see any
basis for statements like this.  Unfortunately, I guess these sorts of
statements have to be viewed as blind guesswork.  Those claims probably
should have been omitted from the report, in my opinion -- there is
really no evidence either way.  Fortunately, these statements are the
exception and only appear in one or two places in the report.

All in all, a useful analysis.  Thanks for posting that.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cryptography Mailing List
Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to majordomo at metzdowd.com