Risks of using Skype in corporate networks.

23rd March 2007

Specialists of companies InfoWatch and SecurityLab.ru had held a united examination to find out how safe the use of Skype in a corporate network is. More than thousand people were respondents of the inquiry. The results showed that Skype leads in popularity among all VOIP-products and that the program is not the main cause of the additional risk of leakage of confidential information, but it can contribute to it. The company members believe that risks accompanied with the use of Skype in a corporate association is a serious obstacle to the spread of this kind of software. The leakage paths provided by Skype are not new, the information may be conveyed in a voice in the same way as using a mobile phone, the moving of files is as dangerous as the data transfer by e-mail, FTP or ICQ. Skypeâ€™s chat is similar to ICQ or to chat in Internet, and therefore also doesnâ€™t bring new, previously unknown threats. Thus, the primary cause of the data leakage is the human element, and all of the leakage paths are to be placed in corporations under control.