UAE Skype Issues Possibly Due to Hacking | ExpatWoman.com
 

UAE Skype Issues Possibly Due to Hacking

The app is still not working for many, and the cause may be due to hacking

Posted on

27 June 2017

Last updated on 27 June 2017
UAE Skype Issues Possibly Due to Hacking

Residents in the UAE over Eid experienced several issues when using the popular communications app, Skype. 

It's not the first time that people living here been unable to contact their families abroad easily using the program, leading users to believe that it had been blocked - as of course, it wouldn't be the first time it has been blocked in the country. 

Many individuals took to social media to express their frustration, only for Skype's official Twitter account to direct them to a page on its website.

SEE ALSO: Has Skype been blocked in the UAE again?

However, it is now believed that the issues may have been related to a recent cyber-attack that was launched on the service recently. 

Hacking group CyberTeam took credit for the issues on June 20th


As Gulf News reports, the app's owner Microsoft released a statement announcing that they are aware of an incident where people have lost connectivity to the app, or have been unable to send or receive messages. 

It's not just the UAE suffering either

There's service disruptions in Japan, Singapore, India, Pakistan and South Africa. 

Of course, it's easy for residents of the UAE to conclude that it had been blocked, with the recent WhatsApp unblocking (and re-blocking) and a Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) statement that stated "there is no change in the UAE's Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Policy".

SEE ALSO: WhatsApp video and voice calls in the UAE unblocked - then blocked again

As far as we know at this time, Skype is still blocked for many individuals in the UAE - or at least facing issues with messaging and the microphone - and WhatsApp's voice and video calls are no longer working, too. 

 
 

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