[size==55]novinite[/size]

Skype Suffers Mysterious Global Crash

Skype appears to have suffered an inexplicable worldwide crash on Thursday, users have been reporting on Twitter.

Floods of angry users have said they have been booted of the system and are now unable to login or even start up the Skype program itself.

The Wall Street Journal had commented that buying Skype would give Microsoft a recognized brand name on the Internet at a time when it is struggling to get more traction in the consumer market.

However, since the major deal, Skype has become victim to unspecified problems, with some reports of the program shutting down with a Windows error message.

It's been running fine all this time, now Microsoft taken over problems will arise and now doubt the costs

Hi
I must have been lucky then, have Skype up and running all day every day usually and did not notice any problem?? and is running up to par now - however :-

quote from - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... obal-crash

Skype has been knocked offline, with users reporting the app is failing to login and crashing.
Reports suggest the problem is global, and affects the app on any platform. The VoIP firm has confirmed the problem, but wasn't offering much detail at the time of publication. Skype's "
heartbeat"
status page is not showing any problems.

"
Some of you may have problems signing in to Skype and making calls,"
spokesman Peter Parkes said in a short message on the Skype blog. "
We're investigating and hope to have more details to share soon."

The VoIP service's website was also down, possibly from a traffic spike as users hunt for information.
"
Looks like our server is down,"
it reads. "
This usually means that we’re doing maintenance work or there are too many visitors at skype.com and we cannot cope with the popularity. In any case — we’re already fixing it and everything should be back to normal in a few minutes."

That Microsoft recently bought Skype has led many to joke that the Redmond firm is already bringing its influence to bear.

Bill
"
Microsoft haven't even signed off on the Skype deal yet and it's already down,"
said one user on Twitter.
"
It didn't take long for Microsoft to work its usual magic,"
added another.
"
Skype crash is global,"
said another. "
Now it's officially a Microsoft product."

Update: Skype has offered a solution to get the service back up and running here.

Hi
forgot their solution link
if you are still having problems
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... pe_an.html

[size=55:3edt0j4w]BBC news

Skype Warns of New Evil Virus Lurking

Skype, the internet communications platform, is being used by hackers to distribute a "
worm"
that infects Windows PCs.

When users click on an instant message saying "
lol is this your new profile pic?"
they unwittingly download a file containing a Trojan horse malware file.

This opens a backdoor allowing hackers to hijack infected PCs and recruit them into a "
botnet army"
.

Users can be locked out of their machines and held to ransom.

According to internet security specialist Sophos, the worm is a variant of the well-known "
Dorkbot"
worm which has been spread by social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

When the worm infects a computer it sends out the "
lol"
message to the user's contact list.

Unsuspecting recipients think the message has originated from someone they know and click on the link, thereby downloading the malware payload.

Hijacked computers

Skype said in a statement: "
Skype takes the user experience very seriously, particularly when it comes to security. We are aware of this malicious activity and are working quickly to mitigate its impact.

"
We strongly recommend upgrading to the newest Skype version and applying updated security features on your computer.

"
Additionally, following links - even when from your contacts - that look strange or are unexpected is not advisable."


Botnets are often used to mount distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks - forcing websites off-line - to run spy ware or to send out spam emails.

Publicity about the threat has made many users wary of clicking on strange-looking links posted via social networks, which may have prompted the perpetrators of this latest attack to switch tactics.

"
The danger is, of course, that Skype users may be less in the habit of being suspicious about links sent to them than, say, Facebook users,"
said Sophos's senior technology consultant Graham Cluley.