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Skype now hides IP addresses to protect online gamers from trolls

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Trolls begone! Skype have changed their security settings to protect videogame players from aggrieved opponents while playing online. 

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In a message “to our gamers”, Skype speak to the issue of retaliation within the online gaming spectrum. In the past, sore-losing players could seek revenge on their victors by launching a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS), that’d knock their rival offline. All this would require is the opposing player’s IP address, which is easy enough uncovered if you know their Skype details.

Whereas before Skype users had the option to share their IP address with contacts, the new update means they’re now hidden by default.

“Skype is fully committed to delivering as safe and secure of an experience as possible to our customers,” reads a blog post on Skype’s website. “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.”

The update can be found on the latest versions of the video chat service and can be downloaded direct from Skype themselves.