Can my employer "hear" my SKYPE phone calls?
Can SKYPE be my answer to the privacy I desperately need?

I have a, shall we just say, long-distance relationship, with a certain
someone in the company who is far away. Due to time-zone and family
matters, I can ONLY call this certain someone during the day. My phone
bills are monitored by a certain domestic someone at home. And, of course,
at work, I couldn't use the telephone as it's not business related.

What about SKYPE?
Can SKYPE be my answer to privacy?

I already plugged in a microphone and headphone and I noticed SKYPE calls
to my friend show up as a phone number of 000012345 so I can converse with
my friend.

But my question is what can my employer "tell" about that connection?
Can they "hear" my SKYPE phone calls if they wanted to?
Do employers typically "listen" to this type of activity?

Please advise me as this is a personal matter all mixed up with work and
the need to remain private.

Thank you very much for your advice
Susan

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On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 06:31:55 +0000, Susan <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
Message-ID: <6ht7omr4mzik.1uvihp4emtutz$.(E-Mail Removed)>

> Can my employer "hear" my SKYPE phone calls? Can SKYPE be my answer to the
> privacy I desperately need?
>
> I have a, shall we just say, long-distance relationship, with a certain
> someone in the company who is far away. Due to time-zone and family
> matters, I can ONLY call this certain someone during the day. My phone
> bills are monitored by a certain domestic someone at home. And, of course,
> at work, I couldn't use the telephone as it's not business related.
>
> What about SKYPE?
> Can SKYPE be my answer to privacy?

Maybe, it depends. As far as your employer being able to 'hear' the
call-contents, the answer in short is "No." Skype calls are end-to-end
encrypted.

However, this does NOT mean that the calls are undetectable. Skype network
packets can be distinguished from other network traffic if you know what
to look for; they can also be blocked at the company firewall.

> I already plugged in a microphone and headphone and I noticed SKYPE calls
> to my friend show up as a phone number of 000012345 so I can converse with
> my friend.
>
> But my question is what can my employer "tell" about that connection? Can
> they "hear" my SKYPE phone calls if they wanted to? Do employers typically
> "listen" to this type of activity?

Only incompetent and/or lazy sysadmins aren't aware of what happens on their
networks; Skype has been getting a lot of press, and sysadmins are beginning
to take notice. Don't count on your activity going undetected. While they
can't hear the voice content of your calls, they will be able to tell that
you're making some, if your network administrator is at all on the ball.

Are you willing to put your job at risk? Remember--the employer owns the
hardware, the software and pays for the bandwidth. Unauthorized use of
company equipment can be grounds for termination. Even installing
unauthorized software--i.e. Skype--can be grounds enough to get you
turfed out, depending on how anal your employer wishes to be. (In most
places I've worked, you'd be fired on the spot for installing something
on their computers without authorization.)

> Please advise me as this is a personal matter all mixed up with work and
> the need to remain private.

If you're worried about the phone bills, then go down to the 7/11 and get
yourself a pay-as-you-go cellphone. The newer ones are small and easy-to-hide,
and because they're pay as you go, you don't have any bills to worry about.

Lock the phone in your office drawer if you don't want to risk bringing
it home. Skype right now is free in North America, but only until the end
of this year. If you get a cellphone, you can use it and no one can accuse
you of mis-appropriating your employer's property. The worst they can do
is give you a hard time if you're calling your friend on company time--so
do it on your breaks, lunch hour, and after work. Is saving a few bucks
on phone calls worth risking your employment?

> Thank you very much for your advice
> Susan

Herne <(E-Mail Removed)>

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Yes.

In article <6ht7omr4mzik.1uvihp4emtutz$.(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) says...
> Can my employer "hear" my SKYPE phone calls?
> Can SKYPE be my answer to the privacy I desperately need?
>
> I have a, shall we just say, long-distance relationship, with a certain
> someone in the company who is far away. Due to time-zone and family
> matters, I can ONLY call this certain someone during the day. My phone
> bills are monitored by a certain domestic someone at home. And, of course,
> at work, I couldn't use the telephone as it's not business related.
>
> What about SKYPE?
> Can SKYPE be my answer to privacy?
>
> I already plugged in a microphone and headphone and I noticed SKYPE calls
> to my friend show up as a phone number of 000012345 so I can converse with
> my friend.
>
> But my question is what can my employer "tell" about that connection?
> Can they "hear" my SKYPE phone calls if they wanted to?
> Do employers typically "listen" to this type of activity?
>
> Please advise me as this is a personal matter all mixed up with work and
> the need to remain private.
>
> Thank you very much for your advice
> Susan
>
Discuss your problem with your hubby and see what he recommends,
--
POKO

"Htnakirs" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in news:1153403937.751489.125590
@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

> Yes.
>
>

Explain please. Skype calls are supposed to be encrypted, so how would your
"Yes" make sense if this is the case? Decryption would take place on the
system the program is running...

--
Jay
(IP)

In message <Xns980682A14248QED@212.104.200.36> "In_Parentheses"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>"Htnakirs" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in news:1153403937.751489.125590
>@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
>
>> Yes.
>>
>>
>
>Explain please. Skype calls are supposed to be encrypted, so how would your
>"Yes" make sense if this is the case? Decryption would take place on the
>system the program is running...

If I were an IT admin and noticed unexplained traffic, I might be
tempted to monitor the traffic.

If it is, in fact, encrypted (I believe Skype is, but I'm not a user so
I don't know or care), I'd simply monitor the PC itself.

If it looked like VoIP traffic, installing something to monitor the
microphone and speakers and check the times when I saw the unexplained
traffic would quickly identify whether it's VoIP or not.

--
"The only British idiom I know is that fag means cigarette."
"Well then tell this cigarette to shut up"

>>Explain please. Skype calls are supposed to be encrypted, so how would your
>>"Yes" make sense if this is the case? Decryption would take place on the
>>system the program is running...
>
> If I were an IT admin and noticed unexplained traffic, I might be
> tempted to monitor the traffic.
>
> If it is, in fact, encrypted (I believe Skype is, but I'm not a user so
> I don't know or care), I'd simply monitor the PC itself.
>
> If it looked like VoIP traffic, installing something to monitor the
> microphone and speakers and check the times when I saw the unexplained
> traffic would quickly identify whether it's VoIP or not.

Oh good. I think you are saying my SKYPE calls are protected because they
use some kind of security between the two SKYPE programs.

Does that mean that even if my employer saved all the VOIP communication
between the two of us, that they would not have the "security key" to
actually listen to the words we spoke?

Is that what you are saying?
Susan

Susan wrote:
<snip>
>
> I have a, shall we just say, long-distance relationship, with a certain
> someone in the company who is far away. Due to time-zone and family
> matters, I can ONLY call this certain someone during the day. My phone
> bills are monitored by a certain domestic someone at home. And, of course,
> at work, I couldn't use the telephone as it's not business related.
>
<snip>
>
> Please advise me as this is a personal matter all mixed up with work and
> the need to remain private.
>
> Thank you very much for your advice
> Susan

If you're going to talk about hiding an affair while at work don't use
the same email address you use to post a job bulletin with.

Two click in Google Groups yields a lot of information and someone
could decide to impose their moral code on you and give Livingston
Enterprises a call.

Years ago I had two co-workers caught doing something just like this.
The IT people said it was "nothing big" to monitor their machines once
they noticed a lot of traffic.

Do what the terrorists do. Go to Target and buy a prepaid cell phone
with cash.

Susan wrote:

>>>Explain please. Skype calls are supposed to be encrypted, so how would your
>>>"Yes" make sense if this is the case? Decryption would take place on the
>>>system the program is running...
>>
>>If I were an IT admin and noticed unexplained traffic, I might be
>>tempted to monitor the traffic.
>>
>>If it is, in fact, encrypted (I believe Skype is, but I'm not a user so
>>I don't know or care), I'd simply monitor the PC itself.
>>
>>If it looked like VoIP traffic, installing something to monitor the
>>microphone and speakers and check the times when I saw the unexplained
>>traffic would quickly identify whether it's VoIP or not.
>
>
> Oh good. I think you are saying my SKYPE calls are protected because they
> use some kind of security between the two SKYPE programs.
>
> Does that mean that even if my employer saved all the VOIP communication
> between the two of us, that they would not have the "security key" to
> actually listen to the words we spoke?
>
> Is that what you are saying?

He may well be saying that, but a mob in China, IIRC, recently broke the
Skype encryption, so it's not secure anymore.

Also, as a BOFH and PABX tech, I have been required to track usage of
both the 'net and the 'phone. The 'net is just like the 'phone, at
work, you often get to use it for a limited amount of personal stuff,
but not freely. If a user starts chewing up "too much" bandwidth/making
"too many" or "too long" calls, I would know about it, and so would that
staffers manager.

You'd be better off paying cash (untraceable) for a pre-paid mobile SIM
card (untraceable), and stashing that in your desk, changing it over in
your mobile when you wanted a chat.

Cheers,
Gary B-)

--
______________________________________________________________________________
Armful of chairs: Something some people would not know
whether you were up them with or not
- Barry Humphries

If your employer is the nsa, yes, they can hear everything.

If your " long distance friend " is hezbollah, yes, the nsa can hear
everything.

If you have any association whatever with radical liberal groups, yes,
the nsa, homeland, interpol, cia, everybody can hear everything.

Any questions?

Kenny G.
---

In news:6ht7omr4mzik.1uvihp4emtutz$.(E-Mail Removed),
Susan <(E-Mail Removed)> had this to say:
>Can my employer "hear" my SKYPE phone calls?
>Can SKYPE be my answer to the privacy I desperately need?
>
>I have a, shall we just say, long-distance relationship, with a certain
>someone in the company who is far away. Due to time-zone and family
>matters, I can ONLY call this certain someone during the day. My phone
>bills are monitored by a certain domestic someone at home. And, of course,
>at work, I couldn't use the telephone as it's not business related.
>
>What about SKYPE?
>Can SKYPE be my answer to privacy?
>
>I already plugged in a microphone and headphone and I noticed SKYPE calls
>to my friend show up as a phone number of 000012345 so I can converse with
>my friend.
>
>But my question is what can my employer "tell" about that connection?
>Can they "hear" my SKYPE phone calls if they wanted to?
>Do employers typically "listen" to this type of activity?
>
>Please advise me as this is a personal matter all mixed up with work and
>the need to remain private.
>
>Thank you very much for your advice
>Susan
>
>