Skype

A week after fixing the 'ring after pickup' bug for Skype on Windows desktop, Microsoft officials said they've also addressed the problem in the Windows Store/Metro-Style version of the Skype app for Windows 8.1.

The issue doesn't seem to be entirely fixed, according to a March 10 post on the Skype "Garage & Updates" blog. But it's better than it was, officials said, with the annoying ring stopping "much faster" with "Skype for Modern Windows 2.6." Here's how Microsoft execs are describing what they've accomplished:

Cisco Systems Inc, the world's leading network equipment maker, will try to convince Europe's second highest court on Wednesday that it should overturn the EU's approval of Microsoft's purchase of Skype.

Users receiving shortened URLs in Skype instant messages, or similar IM platforms, should be wary of a new trojan, called Liftoh.

So far, it has primarily infected users in Latin America, said Rodrigo Calvo, a researcher at Symantec.

When targeted, victims receive a message in Spanish containing a shortened URL. The messages appear as if they are coming from someone on the user's Skype contact list who is linking to a photo. If clicked, the link redirects users to 4shared.com, which is hosting a URL, which initiates a weaponized zip file containing Liftoh.

L33tdawg: It's always better to assume the answer to that question is a YES and act accordingly.

Anyone who uses Skype has consented to the company reading everything they write. The H's associates in Germany at heise Security have now discovered that the Microsoft subsidiary does in fact make use of this privilege in practice. Shortly after sending HTTPS URLs over the instant messaging service, those URLs receive an unannounced visit from Microsoft HQ in Redmond.

A trojan that can hijack a computer and force it into mining for Bitcoins - the virtual currency - has been spreading via Skype.

Antivirus firm Kaspersky Labs said attackers sent messages in various languages translating to "this my favourite picture of you".

The message included a malicious link which was, at its peak, being accessed more than 2,000 times every hour. The value of Bitcoin has grown massively in recent weeks. At the time of writing, Bitcoin exchange website Mt Gox has the currency listed as being worth $186 (£121).

Nir Goldshlager just saved your identity. One of the world’s top white hat security researchers, Goldshlager this week helped Skype and Dropbox fix a critical security flaw that could have let hackers take control of their users’ Facebook accounts. Tomorrow Goldshlager will detail how he found the exploit, but he gave TechCrunch the early heads up. Here’s how hackers exploit the hole.

Saudi Arabia is threatening to block several popular Internet chat, call, and messaging services if they don't get in line with the country's regulatory requirements.

The apps in question include Skype, WhatsApp, and Viber, according to the country's official news agency SPA.

Microsoft's Skype subsidiary didn't hand over any user content to law enforcement, according to the software giant's first ever report on how it deals with official requests for data.

As previously reported), Microsoft's transparency report revealed that Redmond received 75,378 requests from law enforcement agencies worldwide last year, involving 137,424 user accounts.

Unverified reports in Russian media claim that conversations over Skype can be eavesdropped by intelligence agencies which can also determine the location of users.

First reported in the Russian-language Vedomosti newspaper last week, the Federal Security Service (FSB) has had the ability to intercept Skype calls for "a couple of years" and often do so without a court warrant. As a result, some Russian companies are banning staff from using Skype out of concern that their communications are secretly listened to.

Got a secret message to send? Say it with silence. A new technique can embed secret data during a phone call on Skype. "There are concerns that Skype calls can be intercepted and analysed," says Wojciech Mazurczyk at the Institute of Telecommunications in Warsaw, Poland. So his team's SkypeHide system lets users hide extra, non-chat messages during a call.