Skype Vulnerability and Censorship

Video conferencing software is handy for everything, from communicating with family members who live far away to organizing large international business meetings. However, some video conferencing software may not be as secure as you might think. For instance, skype has several security vulnerabilities, too.

Skype is one of the most popular video conferencing tools for both personal use and business communication. The app is owned by Microsoft, one of the largest technology companies in the world. Thus, one can assume that the application is highly secure, but, unfortunately, this is not entirely true.

In 2018, a researcher discovered a security vulnerability that allowed malware to modify users' computers using the Skype update mechanism. If hackers could exploit this vulnerability, they could run code that would give them full access to Windows PCs running Skype. Hackers could install software, steal data, or spy on users.

Fortunately, Microsoft identified and fixed this issue before reports emerged. In a post on the Microsoft Support Forum, a Skype team member said that this issue only affects Skype versions 7.40 and below. Officially, the problem wasn't with the Skype software itself - the program that installs the Skype software was to blame.

In addition to vulnerability issues, Skype had censored issues. In March 2015, many users complained that they could not send links to specific sites, which was the problem that remained unknown.

And in 2014, Skype began to receive a lot of complaints about nude emoticons. Skype had to hide the naked body parts in two emojis in the Windows version. These emojis were not included in the standard or extended collection of Skype emoticons. To send them, the user had to type a text command. In the new version of Skype for Windows, the emoticons' naked body parts were censored, covered with a black rectangle. However, in the Mac versions and the Skype mobile apps for iOS and Android, emoticons are still displayed uncensored.