SKYPE HACK?

Change your password TODAY

Something very strange is going on with Skype. For the past month users have been complaining that they’ve been plagued by spam messages urging them to click a link that’s been shrunk using Google’s Url-shortening service ( https://goo.gl).

Other users say their account has been hijacked and used to send the spam to their contacts. Because the link in the message is a shortened URL, it’s impossible to know before you click it what site you’ll be directed to, but Skype users say it takes you to a Russian website that infects your PC.

At the time of writing, the complaints have filled 27 pages on the Skype Community forums ( www.snipca.com/ 17408). The first person to post said he was sceptical about the message because it came from a friend he rarely speaks to on Skype. One Skype Community Manager (called Claudius) responded by saying that the company’s engineers were “looking into” the situation. He advised all users to change their password by following the instructions at www.snipca.com/17409.

That was in early July. Since then, Microsoft – which owns Skype – hasn’t provided any more information about what may have happened, beyond Claudius adding that the spam could be a result of malicious software yet to be detected by antivirus software. Microsoft’s apparent reluctance to reveal more has frustrated many Skype users, leading some to suspect the company of hushing up a hack.

One Skype user called Jaskypecom said that hackers used his account to send spam to “hundreds of business contacts”, adding that he’s considering switching from Skype. Another user, called Heeman, said hackers had sent messages through his account even though he hasn’t signed into Skype this year. Many insist their account history shows several failed login attempts, which would suggest hackers are trying to guess their password.

So what’s happened? One possibility is that hackers have infected the computers of the people ‘sending’ the messages. This seems unlikely because many victims say the messages were sent when their PC, phone or tablet was switched off.

Another theory suggested by victims on the forum is that Skype’s servers have been hacked. Others suspect that there’s a security flaw in the web version of Skype.

Alternatively, criminals may have got their hands on thousands of Skype passwords through a mass phishing attack, or by targeting people who use the same passwords for other sites and accounts.

Whatever the truth, Microsoft has already upset countless users. What seems to be annoying them more than the spam messages is the lack of information. Referring to the lengthy forum thread, one user (Lozza6) wrote: “27 pages and still nothing? Well, clearly this is all our fault. Remember the customer is always wrong. Never admit

your faults, and deny, deny deny! Well done Skype/ Microsoft. Very professionally handled!”

Until Microsoft says more, it would be wise to follow their only advice so far: change your password. It’s a chore, but it’s worth doing to prevent hackers from spamming your contacts (see page 58 for tips on creating powerful passwords). Worryingly though, some users have said that spam continued to be sent from their account after they changed their password. If this is true, then Microsoft should stop ignoring users and fix the problem as a priority.

Skype users are complaining that their account has been hijacked to send spam messages

When I was a young boy my grandfather’s favourite saying was, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. It made a great impression on me. He died in the 1970s, so he never said it in reference to computers, but if he was alive today it’s a sentiment he’d have applied to Windows. He would have stuck with XP until it did finally break, and then switched to Windows 7. That’s what I did last year. In my opinion Windows 7 is nowhere near broken, so it doesn’t need fixing. In other words, I won’t be upgrading to Windows 10.

Gavin Cooke

In all the hullabaloo about Windows 10, one thing had escaped my attention, until Computeractive mentioned it in your ‘Should you upgrade?’ cover feature (Issue 454). I am referring to Microsoft’s removal of Windows Media Center (WMC). I know WMC isn’t the greatest software in the world, but it’s one that I feel familiar with. I’m sure people who are bigger PC experts than me would advise I use a different program, but it does everything I need on my Windows 7 PC.

At my age (born the same month as the Queen!), can I really be motivated to learn more new software? I think I’ll stick with what I’ve got.

David Smith

I shall be upgrading to Windows 10 within a week of it being released for one simple reason: if I carry on using Windows 8 for just one more day than I absolutely need to I shall lose the will to live.

Simon Peel

Joseph Hamilton may well ‘dance a jig of delight’ when he downloads Windows 10 (Letters, Issue 454), but I predict that dance will involve frustrated forehead-slapping within days. Unlike Joseph, I shall wait a few months before upgrading to wait for the early bugs to be removed, at which point I’ll write in to confirm whether Windows 10 is worth a boogie or not.

Bryan Worthington