Skype

[bascule]

I'm sure lots of people are using Skype, but not many people really understand how it works.

There's an excellent PDF (or HTML for the PDF disinclined) on the operation of the protocol.

To give you the quick jist of it, Skype was developed by KaZaA and uses what's essentially a modified version of the FastTrack network. Run Skype on a system with lots of bandwidth and an external IP, and you'll be promoted to a SuperNode and route calls for other people.

(And now we get to why this is in Computer Security)

So, because your calls are routed through others, in order to prevent snooping (and just a good idea in general) Skype uses strong cryptography on all calls, private messages, file transfers, etc. And by strong, I mean 2048-bit RSA and 256-bit AES. So you can be fairly confident that all voice calls, private messages, and file transfers are fairly safe from interception. The best part is that the encryption is all seamless.

So, if you aren't using Skype by now, get it and chat securely...

[hackajar]

I haven't looked at the pdf yet, but wonder if you can intigrate skype into an astricks server. That would be cool :)

I'll look into this futher!

[^Dash^]

Nice... i always wondered how come i could speak (me having a passive connection) with another passive user... i thought all the traffic went through their server (like yahoo!).

[bascule]

Skype has a page on its operation:

http://www.skype.com/products/explained.html

It's substantially less technical than the PDF I linked

[MidnightViper]

Not to be a smartass, but when you say "developed by KaZaA," do you mean Sharmen Networks, the developers of KaZaA? And even though I haven't checked into Skype at all, I had no idea it was developed by them. Interesting...

[Voltage Spike]

Not to be a smartass, but when you say "developed by KaZaA," do you mean Sharmen Networks, the developers of KaZaA?

A quick journey to their web page reveals that it was developed by the same two individuals who founded KaZaA. Another quick search reveals that Sharmen Networks is only the current owner of KaZaA; they purchased, rather than developed, the original product.

[bascule]

Not to be a smartass, but when you say "developed by KaZaA," do you mean Sharmen Networks, the developers of KaZaA?

If you meant Sharman Networks, you are correct. However, it's a stupid thing to nitpick considering that they themselves (or at least Nikki Hemming) use the names KaZaA and Sharman Networks interchangably.

[alklloyd]

Haven't used it client to client yet, but it's been saving me a lot of money on calls to Indonesia recently.

Al

[erehwon]

I've been playing with this for the last few weeks under a recommendation of a few contractors working in the sandbox. I'm very happy with it, the sound quality sounds more like they're calling from the next room than say downtown Auckland.

[Second]

I also enjoy it. I find it interesting that this service makes it possible to talk to others for free, when something of less quality, like Ventrilo costs to use a server...just a side note.

[MidnightViper]

I finally downloaded it last night. For the need that I downloaded it for though, I would have to use SkypeOut, so I went looking around for some other software that might let me make local calls and I downloaded X-Lite. I haven't fully set it up yet, but it seems to do the job.

I was just wondering, has anyone used SkypeOut or X-Lite?

[pezz]

All this talk of finally using skype, but not a single username listed to add to my "drunk skyping" list?

[GodMinusOne]

I finally downloaded it last night. For the need that I downloaded it for though, I would have to use SkypeOut, so I went looking around for some other software that might let me make local calls and I downloaded X-Lite. I haven't fully set it up yet, but it seems to do the job.

I was just wondering, has anyone used SkypeOut or X-Lite?

I have used X-Lite in conjunction with FreeWorld Dialup(FWD). It got the job done. No complaints from my end.

[alklloyd]

I was just wondering, has anyone used SkypeOut or X-Lite?

I've used SkypeOut to make numerous calls to Jakarta and a couple to Riga. Decent to medium quality with a few dropouts...I suspect this is due to the Indonesian phone system rather than Skype. The Riga calls were fine. Skype's pretty popular among the DC404ers...quite a money saver.

Al K. Lloyd

[alklloyd]

All this talk of finally using skype, but not a single username listed to add to my "drunk skyping" list?

If they have the same handle on Skype as they do here, the search function is really fast. Of course, that can be a big assumption.

Al K. Lloyd