Third-Party Update Leads to Skype Malware Scare

Skype users thought they were being targeted by a worm this weekend when a piece of software suddenly installed itself on their computers through the VoIP client.

The application, called EasyBits GO, was delivered as a Skype Extras update and left a lot of users baffled over its purpose or origin.

"I know that I was never asked, nor given information about it before it was not only installed on my machine, BUT RUNNING in the background.

"Everyone I know who has Skype is kind of sitting around saying 'WTF?!?' on Facebook and forums and trying to research this piece of garbage," one user wrote on the Skype forums.

Because of the suspicious behavior and the fact that people had trouble removing it from their computers after the installation, some users understandably flagged it as a worm.

It turns out the program belongs to EasyBits Media, the company which created Skype Extras, a framework for games and other apps bundled with Skype since 2006.

"Given the popularity of our Skype Game channel, EasyBits Media is currently expanding this service by launching the GO Games platform which will add more features and games to satisfy the growing demand of our gaming community," the company announced on Saturday.

However, Skype admitted that the aggresive delivery method was wrong and disabled the update temporarily. "This latest update from EasyBits included elements of their desktop games organizer in error, but it neither installs nor un-installs correctly," Skype spokesperson Jennifer Caukin said.

"This update has been disabled while we work with them to correct the problems and user experience," she noted and stressed that the company will make sure this will not happen again.

This incident outlines the need of better transparency from developers, otherwise their image can take a serious hit, especially if their software ends up being flagged as malware by the community. EasyBits has since released a stand-alone uninstaller for its GO application.