# Skype generates strange traffic

## ckid113

Sometimes skype starts to send/receive short UDP messages to/from different IPs. The strange thing is that it happens when I do not use it for call or chat. And why to different IPs? I am worried about security of skype installation. Is this normal? And what this traffic for? I updated from old 2.0 version to 2.2.0.35 and still see this in tcpdump sometimes.

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## Dagger

This is very "normal" for skype. It's using your PC/Internet connection to serve traffic to other nodes on "skype network". It's design of their communication protocol. Since it's closed source package, you never know what information it send and who's listening on the other end. If you're concerned about your privacy, I suggest using better options - like Jabber.

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## chiefbag

Have a look at this previous post, it explains whats happening, there is a workaround for this in Windows.

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-853380-highlight-skype.html

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