Skype Releases Hotfix Update
If Skype's auto-update feature has not told you already (which you would encounter when logging out of and back into Skype anytime after 10 a.m. EST this morning), Skype released a hotfix update this morning which addresses some security and crashing issues.
In particular the cross-zone scripting vulnerability that led to closing access to the Metacafe and Dailymotion video sources for sharing via Skype Chat windows and mood message feature has been addressed. Issues such as the inability to answer a second call and to start video when plugging in a webcam during a call have also been resolved. On the other hand while the hotfix has addressed several situations that were causing the Skype client to crash, I still lost a call this afternoon where my Skype client "self-closed" when a called party answered my call. A complete list of fixes is at the link above.
This version also introduces a whitelist/blacklist feature designed to prevent malicious use of the Skype API and potential worm attacks. More details are in the January Developer Newsletter with the following article summary:
Recent attacks to Skype public API have made [it] imperative to define a solution in fighting worm and virus attacks to it. Following up a request by the Security Team to address this issue and take a preventive action, this type of attack also puts at stake Skype’s reliability and security towards our user base.
There will be two levels of White- and Blacklist - Local and Global.
Download the hotfix release here. It can also be accessed via "Help | Check for Updates" in your Skype client. Highly recommended if only for the security issues addressed.
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Comments
Like so much else at Skype, the download of this "hotfix release" is broken. Downloading it through the Skype web page yields 3.6.0.244 more often than not. Oh, and the "check for update" operation from within Skype has been broken for a very, very long time, it is just one more item on the long list of things that Skype doesn't care enough about to fix.
It is nice to hear, however, that despite the very lengthy list of "bugfix: Skype crashed when..." items in the release notes, an experienced Skype user such as yourself is still getting Skype crashes during calls. At least that gives new and inexperienced users an idea of what to expect from Skype.
My guess is that the "Quality Control" department at Skype has gone the same route as the "Customer Support" department. Away.
Posted by: J.A. Watson | February 5, 2008 09:35 PM
My first test of an update is to see if the "Help | Check for Updates" works, since that is the route many users will end up following. Came up properly with the new version first time on three of my PC's.
The crashing issue is one for which Skype has a log file and hopefully will get addressed in a future hotfix. Also I have a Windows configuration that challenges all new software installation. (Did I sayt my next PC will be a Mac?) But my focus is on having a low cost or free conversation; I still manage to recover quite quickly and get back to my high quality voice conversations. Thanks to the Skype Dev team for keeping the updates coming.
Posted by: Jim Courtney | February 7, 2008 03:28 AM
We seem to have a difference of opinion about "Check for Updates". However, here is what one of the "experts" in the Skype User Forum has to say:
In my 4.5 years on Skype I have yet to see the Check for Updates work.
I think that pretty well sums it up.
Posted by: J.A. Watson | February 11, 2008 12:40 PM
Quoting from the "Unofficial Apple Weblog" tuaw.com:
It would be nice if the updater built into Skype actually did what the name implies
It seems that Jim Courtney might have the only copy of Skype in the world in which the Check for Updates function actually works! What an odd coincidence!
Posted by: J.A. Watson | February 13, 2008 11:46 PM
For the record, i just ran the skype updater on my pc and it's downloading as we speak.
perhaps it's a geographical issue?
Posted by: C. Palmer | February 18, 2008 11:15 AM