<P> Skype acquired the video service Qik in 2011 . After shutting down Qik in April 2014, Skype relaunched the service as Skype Qik on 14 October 2014 . Although Qik offered video conferencing and Internet streaming, the new service focuses on mobile video messaging between individuals and groups . </P> <P> Skype was claimed initially to be a secure communication, with one of its early web pages stating "highly secure with end - to - end encryption". Security services were invisible to the user, and encryption cannot be disabled . Skype reportedly uses publicly documented, widely trusted encryption techniques: RSA for key negotiation and the Advanced Encryption Standard to encrypt conversations . However, it is impossible to verify that these algorithms are used correctly, completely, and at all times, as there is no public review possible without a protocol specification and / or the app source code . Skype provides an uncontrolled registration system for users with no proof of identity . Instead, a free choice of nicknames permits users to use the system without revealing their identities to other users . It is trivial to set up an account using any name; the displayed caller's name is no guarantee of authenticity . A third - party paper analyzing the security and methodology of Skype was presented at Black Hat Europe 2006 . It analyzed Skype and found a number of security issues with the then - current security model . </P> <P> Skype incorporates some features which tend to hide its traffic, but it is not specifically designed to thwart traffic analysis and therefore does not provide anonymous communication . Some researchers have been able to watermark the traffic so that it is identifiable even after passing through an anonymizing network . </P> <P> In an interview, Kurt Sauer, the Chief Security Officer of Skype, said, "We provide a safe communication option . I will not tell you whether we can listen or not ." This does not deny the fact that the NSA monitors Skype conversations . Skype's client uses an undocumented and proprietary protocol . The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is concerned about user privacy issues arising from using proprietary software and protocols and has made a replacement for Skype one of their high - priority projects . Security researchers Biondi and Desclaux have speculated that Skype may have a back door, since Skype sends traffic even when it is turned off and because Skype has taken extreme measures to obfuscate their traffic and functioning of their app . Several media sources reported that at a meeting about the "Lawful interception of IP based services" held on 25 June 2008, high - ranking unnamed officials at the Austrian interior ministry said that they could listen in on Skype conversations without problems . Austrian public broadcasting service ORF, citing minutes from the meeting, reported that "the Austrian police are able to listen in on Skype connections". Skype declined to comment on the reports . One easily demonstrated method of monitoring is to set up two computers with the same Skype user ID and password . When a message is typed or a call is received on one computer, the second computer duplicates the audio and text . This requires knowledge of the user ID and password . </P>

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