Skype lets hackers track your BitTorrent downloads(theregister.co.uk) |
Skype lets hackers track your BitTorrent downloads(theregister.co.uk) |
Still, this kind of service could be used by background check agencies, private detectives, etc where the burden of proof is whatever the client decides to accept (though I can think of much easier ways of getting someone's IP address than this).
I think that, for a majority of people, this will end up being about "clout" rather than the rule of law. And they will feel/find themselves on the short end of that stick. And the more they fear, the more that entrenched interests win by default.
I would guess that we're in agreement. I just become a bit... I don't know what word to use, when I read "in court" these days. Because industry is doing everything it can to ensure that "in court" (literally) is precisely not where the battle is fought.
This attack vector links Skype accounts to IP addresses, and then tries to find those IP addresses in BitTorrent swarms. But IP addresses are not people: an IP assigned to an account I owned is not necessarily being used by me, and the person who has a Skype account using a given IP is not necessarily the same person who is using BitTorrent to join a swarm from that IP.
The major issue here is that anyone can find out the IP address of any Skype user just by knowing their username, which can be found in the Skype global directory. Even worse, the user isn't able to block this (or even be notified about this) and the attack can be done by someone not in your contact list.