In January 2018, Microsoft announced that it would add end-to-end encryption for all users of Skype.
As of last week, it seems that the option of encrypted chats is available to all Skype users using the latest version of the service.
Microsoft first started rolling out the end-to-end encrypted private chats feature to Insiders in January. At the time, company executives had said that encryption would work for audio calls, text messages and picture, using Open Whisper Systems' industry standard Signal Protocol.
During the trial period, private chat only worked for one chat per device at a time. But this particular feature worked for all the platforms on which the application is released: Windows Desktop, iOS, Mac, Android and Linux.
To use Private Conversation, you must select it from the profile of the person you want to chat with. During the conversation, calls, messages and video/audio/video they are encrypted until the session ends.
Microsoft has reported that Skype has been encrypted for some time, noting that it uses AES 256 bit encryption.
But this is not the same as the end-to-end encryption mentioned above. End-to-end encryption means that not only is the communication channel secure, but the messages stored on the company's servers can only be read by those involved in the conversation.
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