A Windows update has been pinpointed as the main
reasonSkypewasoffline for 48 hours last week (14
August). In apostingon the company's heatbeat.skype.com website Skype said,
"The disruption was triggered by a massive restart of our users'
computers across the globe within a very short timeframe as they
re-booted after receiving a routine set of patches through Windows
Update."
The disruption coincided with Microsoft's release of its
August 2007 security update. According to Skype, the update
from Microsoft caused users of Skype to reboot their Windows PCs.
"The high number of restarts affected Skype's network resources.
This caused a flood of log-in requests, which, combined with the
lack of peer-to-peer network resources, prompted a chain reaction
that had a critical impact," Skype said.
Skype said, "We can confirm categorically that no malicious
activities were attributed or that our users' security was not, at
any point, at risk."