By now you have no doubt heard that Skype has been HACKED… but here are some of the specifics for those that are interested:
On July 13th 2006 a small group of engineers from Asia successfully reverse engineered the Skype protocol. Their software is not stable enough to release to the public, but they are working night and day on a demo which they hope to launch before the end of August. According to their CEO, their software will not support Skype’s Super Node technology. Right now every computer with Skype installed on it can be used as a relay to carry data between two other computers when both of those computers are only allowed to make outgoing TCP calls. This could eventually have a very negative effect on the Skype network if too many people choose not to act as Skype Super Nodes and the network starts to deteriorate.
Being that Skype is considered an illegal method of communication in China there is nothing at all illegal or even morally wrong with what this group of engineers has accomplished, especially from the Chinese perspective. They reverse engineered a protocol that was not protected by patent. They will be seen as heroes in China and it is unlikely the government will ever take action against them.
Only time will tell the future of Skype and the Skype business model but I believe that it’s going to have to change drastically in the near future in order to stay competitive in the VOIP market.
Image of the hacked software next to Skype’s VOIP client:
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Another popular Skype hack is the “hi-res” hack:
You need to upgrade to the latest Skype release (2.5.0.85 or later for mac and 3.0.0.216 for PC), quit Skype, and then edit the config.xml file in your settings directory (”~/Library/Application Support/Skype/[skypeusername]/” in OS X).
You should see an entry that looks similar to:
<Video>
<Device>Built-in iSight</Device>
</Video>
Modify that to read:
<Video>
<CaptureWidth>640</CaptureWidth>
<CaptureHeight>480</CaptureHeight>
<Device>Built-in iSight</Device>
</Video>
When you’ve finished, your contacts will be seeing you in glorious 640×480 instead of the standard 320×240. There are some tweaks and hardware requirements that might be required for the PC version, so check up on the links below for the nitty-gritty details.
Enjoy!
February 20th, 2007 - 8:38 pm
So how do I go about downloading this program, so that I can attach it to my skype? If you are going to show stuff like this online, you should at least back it up or allow people to download it to see for themselves. When you do decide to let people download it, then and only then do you put it all over the net. I mean think of it there must be tons of people out there trying to figure out a way to call landlines for free, and for you to show a way how but then not allow us to get it is horrible.
May 18th, 2007 - 6:05 am
Skype needs to incorporate an algo into their incoming out going phone chats, basically the network will not allow access unless this quantum encrypted KEY is not found in the “data” (hide the key in one of the data channels, scramble the channel, hide one of them and there is no way the KEY can be hacked. Because you would need all parts of the key to decipher the key. This would knock off any unwanted network lechers and hackers trying to access their network. dd
July 23rd, 2009 - 4:03 am
Now Skype seems to be taking collaboration and social networking into the next level of achievement:scalable and resourceful.