A bug has been discovered within video and messaging service Skype which will cripple the user’s session and leave the programme un-openable when a series of characters are received.
Yes, this does sound a lot like the recent Apple iMessage problem but in this instance when the offending characters are sent between Skype users they will force the software to crash and frustratingly you won’t be able to launch Skype again afterwards as this text will load up in the recent communications causing endless crashing. Skype will remain unusable unless the sender deletes the message from their end of the conversation.
The text reportedly crashing Skype is simply “http://:” – Just that, on its own, with nothing following it. And we’re sharing it here for advisory reasons, so we trust you’ll use the information responsibly!
Why this piece of text is causing such a commotion is yet to be officially addressed by Skype but they are aware of its effects and are said to be working on a fix.
A test conducted by Venture Beat suggests users of the Skype mobile apps for Android and iOS appear to be able to re-launch the app without the same difficulty suffered by desktop users.
We await further updates.