Should businesses ban Skype?

Though Skype has proved quite popular - with more than 50 million registered users - scepticism persists over whether the voice over IP application is safe for businesses.

Now one analyst firm is calling for enterprises to ban Skype - or at least take steps to ensure it's secured.

Skype has several shortcomings in the enterprise setting, according to Canadian analyst firm Info-Tech Research Group, which has published a research note titled Five Reasons to Ban Skype.

These reasons include Skype's ability to bypass corporate firewalls; basic technical vulnerabilities which leave it open to hacker attacks despite encrypting communications; and the burden of tracking and storing all user communications with the software.

However, Ross Armstrong, senior research analyst at Info-Tech Research and author of the note, said what's most important is to raise awareness around the Skype security issue.

He told silicon.com: "The real message is not to ban Skype flat-out but if you are going to consider its use, then rein it in or lock it down, the same as you would with IM."

Armstrong likened the VoIP app's rise in businesses to instant messaging. "IM snuck in through the back door... and wasn't managed centrally by IT," he said. "Any rogue item like that always presents vulnerabilities [in an enterprise] whether or not the technology itself has vulnerabilities."

Skype's security holes may not threaten businesses more than those in IM or email, Armstrong explained, "but because Skype is new, the vulnerabilities might not be as well known".

Now that eBay has bought Skype, the analyst expects the company will offer more VoIP products for the enteprise, so the need for heightened awareness of Skype security is even more vital than before the acquisition.

If IT managers want to allow Skype in the workplace, they should develop and enforce policies on acceptable usage such as refusing file transfers - and warn against using it for sensitive communications, according to the research note.

Countries such as China and the United Arab Emirates are also cracking down on Skype. A Chinese telecoms operator, for instance, is said to be trialling a product from US-based Verso Technologies that will stop all customers within the country from using Skype and other peer-to-peer communications.