Skype is still down and out

More than 220 million users were without a service yesterday after the hugely successful system developed what the outfit initially called a 'software error'. Since Skype is made up entirely of software such an announcement was as useful as a chocolate teapot and angered may users who have based their businesses on the software.

According to the New York Times, suits at the Luxembourg outfit claimed they had found the source of the problem but did not know why it had bought the system down so effectively. Even after working through last night it still has not been fixed.

Skype has been fielding media calls with Kurt Sauer, the outfit's chief security officer which seems to suggest that the problem might have a security background.

However, all he seems to be saying is that what happened was caused by a "unique set of events"... the "genesis of which is not entirely understood”. A bit like life then.

Apparently the bug existed in every copy of the Skype software that had been downloaded since the service's start in 2003. Sauer thinks that problems with the Internet backbone in some parts of the world might have had something to do with it.

More here. µ