Blue Coat Systems White Paper Sample

Skype is a P2P protocol that intentionally evades network policies and may expose enterprises to security and liability risks. It is difficult to control via traditional means, such as firewalls. The unauthorized use of Skype in the workplace can cause a number of problems, including the following:

1. Skype file transfers may expose the enterprise network to viruses, spyware or other malicious code.
2. Skype file transfers may also expose enterprises to the risk of confidential information being leaked to outside parties.
3. As video data is bandwidth-intensive, Skype users can consume a sizeable amount of bandwidth on an enterprise network.
4. Use of Skype PCs as part of a Botnet of PCs to launch denial-of-service and other attacks.
5. Skype users may use its Instant Messaging (IM) functionality to evade enterprise IM controls and send out confidential data
6. All Skype traffic is encrypted using proprietary encryption, so none of the communications can be logged.