Skype to be renamed “Scrape”?

Something happened four and a half years ago that made me stop and wonder what the hell really happened: Skype was mysteriously taken offline so I dashed off this post: Skype. How big *is* the back door?

Confirmation of my paranoia back then has become clearer with articles about how Microsoft has setup Skype to be “scraped” by the National Security Agency like this one Skype: Reportedly Funneling Your Calls To PRISM Since 2011:

Skype, long thought to be a privacy haven for its encrypted communication, reportedly began integrating its systems into the NSA’s PRISM program as early as November of 2010, nearly a year prior to joining Microsoft in the fall of 2011, according to a new report from the Guardian. 

Skype reportedly began sending audio and text messages to the NSA, which shared the data with the FBI and CIA. The Guardian also reported that Skype, under the helm of Microsoft, worked closely with the NSA to enable the collection of video calls starting in July 2012.

Or this one Microsoft Hints Skype Calls May Be Fair Game for NSA:

Microsoft indirectly hinted that Skype communications can be intercepted and handed over to the National Security Agency, according to two privacy and security researchers’ interpretation of the latest statement by the company regarding NSA surveillance.

For security experts, that means Skype calls are at the mercy of NSA requests, just like traditional phone calls made with landlines or cellphones. In other words, the U.S. government, through its PRISM program, can legally compel Microsoft to hand over Skype communications, something that the company previously denied was even possible at a technical level.

I always try to leverage my strengths and use them to see what’s coming next. Rarely do I take on face value any announcement, strategic move or even terrorist ‘attack’ since I’ve been wrong every single time I did so. Only when I try to read between the lines or do a smell test on whether something feels right — all while taking in to consideration the facts I’ve been sticking in my brain through all my research and knowledge — that I become paranoid enough to take action and one action is to move off of Skype. More on that to come…

Good discussion from a quite varied group of folks on This Week on ABC: