Why does Skype read the BIOS?

The Inquirer website reported that the Skype Internet phone allegedly conspired to read the BIOS of the user's machine and retrieve the motherboard number from there. This whole story began back in December, and for about two months Skype has been receiving at its disposal all new serials of users' motherboards.

This information is collected by a program developed by EasyBits Software and used to manage plugins for Skype. As part of the functionality offered by EasyBits, there are DRM-functions that prevent the illegal use and distribution of plug-ins for Skype. For this reason, Skype 3.0 and checks the BIOS settings on users' computers. Reading the serial number allows EasyBits to quickly identify the computer on which the Skype software is installed. However, on Thursday Skype released a new version of the program - Skype 3.0.0.216, which no longer checks the settings of user machines.

Skype workers themselves believe that there is no crime here, Viruslist.com writes. “It’s quite normal to look at indicators that uniquely identify the platform. There is nothing secret in reading the BIOS parameters, ”the company's official blog says.