Skype's Legacy: Pioneering End-to-End Encryption

The Storming of State Security Investigations and the Discovery of FinFisher

On the evening of March 5, 2012, in Cairo, Egyptian revolutionaries raided the headquarters of the State Security Investigations (SSI) service, the nation’s secret police.

This building, infamously known as “the capital of hell,” had a notorious reputation for the brutal torture of prisoners.

Documents Revealing Surveillance Capabilities

Within the SSI headquarters, protesters discovered a wealth of information, including both intact and fragmented documents.

They also found torture implements, data storage devices like hard drives, CDs, and DVDs – all detailing extensive surveillance and horrific torture practices.

Among these materials was a memorandum, penned in Arabic by SSI officers, concerning a sophisticated software program named FinFisher.

FinFisher, developed by the British-German firm Gamma International, was described as a “high-level hacking system” possessing multiple functionalities.

FinFisher's Hacking Capabilities

These capabilities included gaining access to email accounts and the ability to upload “spy files” to target devices.

The software could track communications, achieve “complete control” over compromised devices, and, critically, record instances of successful account breaches on the Skype network.

At the time, Skype was marketed as offering the “most secure method of communication” due to its encryption.

Skype's Promise of Secure Communication

In the early 2010s, Skype was the dominant internet phone-calling application globally, not solely within Egypt.

Introduced in 2003, Skype pledged its users an unprecedented level of privacy, boasting calls that were “highly secure with end-to-end encryption.”

This, theoretically, rendered chats and calls impervious to interception by hackers or spies as they traversed the internet.

Consequently, Egyptian intelligence agencies needed to directly compromise individuals’ computers using FinFisher to monitor their Skype conversations.

“Skype calls have excellent sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption,” proclaimed Skype’s homepage in 2004.

The Pioneering Role of End-to-End Encryption

Skype’s encryption represented a revolutionary advancement in its era.

In the mid-1990s, Phil Zimmermann, a renowned cryptographer, created Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) software.

PGP enabled users to secure files and emails with end-to-end encryption, ensuring only the sender and recipient could access the content.

However, PGP was complex and not integrated into user-friendly chat and calling applications.

Today, end-to-end encryption is a standard feature in apps utilized by billions, often without users even realizing the data-scrambling technology at play.

Apps like Apple’s iMessage and FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Signal, and WhatsApp all employ end-to-end encryption by default.

However, in 2003, Skype was the first to widely offer this level of encryption and privacy.

Reactions and Attempts to Circumvent Encryption

Skype’s launch provoked discontent among law enforcement agencies worldwide.

In Italy, the Polizia Postale tasked the cybersecurity firm Hacking Team with developing phone spyware capable of bypassing Skype’s encryption, according to former Hacking Team personnel.

Governments globally explored alternative methods to monitor Skype users.

In 2008, Citizen Lab discovered that Skype had been altered to allow Chinese authorities to intercept messages exchanged on the platform.

In China, Skype operated as Tom-Skype, a joint venture between a Chinese wireless operator and eBay, Skype’s then-owner.

Snowden Revelations and Microsoft's Involvement

Later, classified files released by Edward Snowden revealed that Microsoft, the current owner of Skype, had modified the app.

These modifications allowed the National Security Agency and other authorities to intercept calls and messages, effectively negating the app’s encryption.

Skype's Sunset and Lasting Legacy

This week, Microsoft announced the discontinuation of Skype on May 5th.

Currently, Skype is considered a niche application, with Microsoft reporting 36 million users in 2023, a significant decline from its peak of 300 million.

Despite its diminishing user base and impending shutdown, Skype’s legacy endures in the technology that safeguards communications across the world’s most popular chat applications.

The advancements pioneered by Skype’s original developers have contributed to a safer and more open world.

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