Skype

Skype

CIS/ 207

University of Phoenix

September 1, 2012

Skype

Skype has dominated the VoIP market since it began with a beta launch in August 2003, on March 5, 2012 Skype set a record at 35 million simultaneous users. Developed by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis Skype is a voice-over-Internet Protocol service that allows users to communicate with each other via voice, text, and video. Users can call and text other Skype users for free, but users who want to call a traditional telephone number are charged a fee. Skype was purchased by Microsoft in 2011 for 8.5 billion dollars and currently encompasses Microsoft Skype Division. Skype operates in user’s background processing making it a peer-to-peer service instead of a client-server service, due to this Skype was originally called Sky Peer-to-Peer (Wikipedia, 2012).

How is Skype Used?

Skype’s three primary types of service include voice calls, text or instant messaging, and video conferencing. Registered users create unique Skype Names that are then listed in the Skype directory and can be search by users. Users can also make and receive calls via a service called SkypeIn that allows traditional phones to connect to a user’s computer. SkypeIn users are given a local “online number” that is charged the same rates as traditional services and is available in 27 countries. According to a Columbia University study:” it (Skype) provides better voice quality than MSN and Yahoo IM clients” (Baset, Conclusion, 2004). Text service operates the same way as Instant Messaging in that it connects “friended” users via usernames and incorporates group chat, emoticons, and storage of chat history. Text chat however, is more vulnerable to malicious attacks in the form of a virus, phishing, or spam. Text as well as video or voice service can also be compromised by more sophisticated forms of social engineering. These types of attacks already exist in other systems and are not made more prevalent by...