• On TV.com: TOP 10 Shows CANCELED Too Soon
September 24, 2008 8:07 AM PDT

Skype spam on the rise

by Matt Asay

For those who regularly use instant-messaging services like Yahoo Instant Messenger and Microsoft's MSN Messenger, you know that IM spam arrived long ago and shows no signs of leaving. Tuesday, however, I received my first Skype spam. Lucky me.

Unfortunately, I'm not alone. Skype spam is on the rise. It was just a matter of time, and I can't really complain, given all the value that I and my company derive from Skype.

However, the problem that I have with this spam business is that these dirty spammers keep confusing me with a mindless Windows sheep! (See right.)

Now, I can accept many things, but being confused with a Windows user? Unconscionable. :-)

More seriously, when are we going to start seeing spam filtering software and such, much like we have in spades for e-mail? Is there not enough corporate dollars in instant messaging to justify worrying about spam? Today, probably not, but that will likely change. Oracle, IBM, and others seem to think there's lots of money in collaboration tools.

This activity is all in corporate communication tools, but perhaps this will eventually lead to more protection of this sort of communication on the public chat networks, as well.

Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay.
Recent posts from The Open Road
Mobile: Still waiting to see what sticks
Google privacy controls: Most people won't care
Amazon's move mocks EU's fear of Oracle
Skype to open-source far too little
The difference a few years makes to open source
Novell cuts 3 percent of its workforce, plus benefits
Data's one-two punch in open-source business models
Open source as an antitrust strategy
Add a Comment (Log in or register) (5 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next
by techman21 September 24, 2008 10:01 AM PDT
Set your privacy setting so that only your contacts can Chat with you or call you.
Reply to this comment
by ja-watson September 24, 2008 10:50 PM PDT
One of the reasons that Skype spam is on the rise is that Skype is apparently doing nothing to try to stop it. The most likely reason Skype is not trying to stop it is that the spammers and pornographers are a huge help to Skype's ridiculous claims about registered users. Who is really stupid enough to believe that Skype has "339 million registered users"? As any Skype representative how many of those are accounts created by spammers, and you get no answer. Who is really stupid enough to believe that Skype is getting 300,000 new user registrations every day? Ask how many of those are spammers, and you get the same lack of response. Setting up a Skype spamming system, complete with automatic account generator, is relatively easy, and the procedure for doing so was described in detail by the Skype Cheerleaders (Skype Journal) some time ago.

By the way, changing your privacy settings in Skype will NOT stop the spam, you will still get an ever-increasing stream of spam/pornographic "contact requests".
Reply to this comment
by mworthen October 4, 2008 8:08 PM PDT
ja-watson - Excellent points. Earlier today I related my frustration with Skype's apparent indifference to their growing spam problem:

http://cultureandcurrentaffairs.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/skype-spam-pseudo-solutions/

Let's hope it doesn't take them long to take customer's concerns seriously. Skype offers an otherwise excellent service but all it takes is a hungry competitor and lousy customer relations to knock them down.

Mark D Worthen PsyD
Reply to this comment
by mworthen October 4, 2008 8:14 PM PDT
I didn't realize that URL's are not automatically hyperlinked here. So here's that link again, this time in 'clickable' form:

<a target="_blank" href="http://cultureandcurrentaffairs.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/skype-spam-pseudo-solutions/">Culture and Current Affairs Blog - Skype Spam Pseudo-Solutions</a>

Mark D Worthen PsyD
by mworthen October 4, 2008 8:16 PM PDT
ooops. What's up CNet? No links at all?! Very strange.
(5 Comments)
  • prev
  • 1
  • next

FAQ: Buying the right Windows 7 upgrade

Readers still have lots of questions on just which version of the software they need to buy in order to upgrade their PC. CNET News tries to offer some answers.

N.Y. lawsuit details Intel's 'largesse' toward Dell

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's federal antitrust case filed Wednesday alleges a longstanding symbiotic relationship between Intel and Dell.

advertisement

About The Open Road

Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to the Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is general manager of the Americas division and vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

Add this feed to your online news reader

The Open Road topics

advertisement
advertisement

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right