I recently discovered that someone found out my current IP info via Skype among other information. People can do this via a thing called Skype resolvers. However nothing I do so far seems to work. I have my connection set to "Allow direct connections to your contacts only." I also have Skype installed on Linux as well as Windows. However even when I uninstall Skype on Linux and I also think both Linux and Windows I am still resolvable. I also tested on this on myself using an online skype resolver. Any help much appreciated. Thanks.
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3I wonder if the online skype resolver has a cache. If you turn skype off on all of your computers and the skype resolver still knows your IP, then it's likely caching the data and there's nothing you can do about it until the cache times out.– Neil SmithlineCommented Sep 12, 2015 at 17:38
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1By the way, be careful with these online resolvers. They harvest skype names for spam, social engineering or targeted malware attacks.– André BorieCommented Sep 13, 2015 at 2:34
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3 Answers
Due to an increase in DDOS attacks in the gamer community Skype no longer allows an IP to be shared by default as of 01/21/2016. They are likely no longer setting up the handshake and making you a peer to peer connection and you are now transmitting information through a central server or a proxy server to make this happen.
Skype is fully committed to delivering as safe and secure of an experience as possible to our customers. We have recently introduced the ability to hide a Skype user’s IP address and we’ve set this as a default status in the latest versions of Skype.
Starting with this update to Skype and moving forward, your IP address will be kept hidden from Skype users. This measure will help prevent individuals from obtaining a Skype ID and resolving to an IP address.
You can find this update in the latest versions of Skype on desktop and mobile* devices, which you can download here. We also recommend you update Skype across your devices to ensure you benefit from the best experience possible.
*Android, and coming soon as default on iOS.
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The heading of the link shared is "To our gamers: IP will now be hidden by default in latest update" and I know as a gamer this has affected many gamers. Mainly bigger YouTubers and Twitch streamers. Which I imagine played a big role in the changes. So I do believe it was an influence. Might not be the whole reason like you mentioned but it was still a valid one. Commented Mar 25, 2016 at 17:57
Skype can communicate directly, by peer-to-peer, or ip-to-ip communication, or it can communicate through a central server side of the Skype infrastructure.
In the second case, your peers won't see your IP address. But you have to set it up in the Skype settings (Skype -> Options -> Extended settings -> Connection).
From the other side, you can get the actual IP of your not enough secured peers even by a resource monitor (ctrl/shift/esc, switch to administrative mode, click on "Resource Monitor" tab on the top).
In most cases, the peer-to-peer contact has a better quality, but it is not always so (if both of you are behind a masking firewall, the direct data contact is problematic, although still not impossible).
If you uninstall Skype, then no Skype process left in your system. Thus, there will be nothing what could say your IP to your Skype peers. If you want to be unresolvable by other means as well, your question isn't Skype-specific any more.
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Okay, thanks for your reply. So what would I actually do in the connection settings then? Also what would I do in the resource monitor to disable my IP being resolved via Skype? Commented Sep 12, 2015 at 14:03
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@user86613 Skype always know your IP, practically every program on your computer knows. Your goal isn't to hide it from your skype itself, your goal is to avoid it to share this information with your peers. This canbe done in the skype settings, by disabling the direct peer-to-peer communication.– peterhCommented Sep 12, 2015 at 14:08
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That is what I want to do; disable peers and other people resolving my ip if they know my skype name. I have set my connection options to "allow direct connections to your contacts only." However I have tested this on myself and I am still resolvable. I have Skype installed on Windows and Linux. However even when I uninstall it on Linux and I also think both Windows and Linux that I am still resolvable. Commented Sep 12, 2015 at 14:58
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Somebody having your IP isn't much of a problem actually. They can't do much with it, and even if they feel like ddosing you it wouldn't be a problem since your ip isn't permanent. Behaving almost dynamically depending on the mood of your ISP. If you are worried for people trying to take control over your computer then I would 1. Verify that your router isn't externally comprisable 2. that all the emails/links/documents you open are from trusted sources 3. That no one is between you and whatever web service you are connecting to 4. That you aren't on a government list ;)
Even if they got your IP all the ports tend to be filtered. It could be used to identify you but because of its volatile nature that wouldn't be effective This is not a solution just something you should consider. Stay safe
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2I beg to differ on the impact point: There are lots of Twitch.tv streamer or online gamers in general that had the problem of getting ddosed while streaming / playing. With every attack they lose viewers, stream views and therefore advertisements. This also can happen in (semi-) professional tournaments with price money attached. Therefore those attacks can have a financial impact. Commented Mar 24, 2016 at 8:39