Shopsmith Forums

From what I can tell, I believe what is going on behind the scenes is a set of point to point socket connections (think of a socket as something akin to a piece of PVC pipe running between your computer and another computer to transfer data) between your computer and the Skype servers (and consequently between the other computer and the Skype servers) so it is not likely that someone will be attempting to hack your system unless its someone you've invited into your conversation -- let's hope that doesn't happen. Regardless, it's still unlikely I believe. The only thing I'm not completely sure of is whether the data transferred over the socket/pipe is encrypted or not -- my guess is not (cheaper that way). If it's not encrypted, someone (anyone) can sniff the packets (that's a term used to describe eaves dropping on Internet data as it travels here and there) and see what you're typing or listening to.. This is one of the reasons that places like your bank or Amazon use https instead of http -- that gets you an encrypted socket connection.

Hope that wasn't completely confusing!:D