Way back in 2012, it came to light that a flaw in Skype made it easy for hackers to acquire your IP address. Now, finally, Microsoft has updated the software so those details are hidden by default.
Skype has offered the option to hide your IP address for a little while, but the update which is being rolled out today means that it’s a standard feature. Previously, it was possible to expose a person’s last known IP address just through analysing their general information — all that was required was a user name.
In reality, the most pleased party will be gamers. There’s been a trend in the past for ad-hoc Digital Denial of Service attacks from fellow competitors, targeted at an IP address acquired from a Skype username, to knock opponents offline. As of today, that will no longer be possible.
Image by RoccoAlpha under Creative Commons licence