The Skype application for Mac has finally been updated to fix a critical vulnerability discovered last week. Version 5.1.0.935 fixes a major flaw that exposed your Mac to attacks from malicious contacts via instant messages, and meant another user could gain remote access to your system.
Interestingly, Skype actually fixed the flaw on April 14th, but didn’t bother pushing the update out to its users because there was no exploit active in the wild. Reassuring, isn’t it?
The update – which also fixes some bugs in addition to patching security holes – is obviously recommended for all Skype 5 users. To download it, launch Skype on your Mac and check for updates, or visit the website.
If you downloaded Skype 5 from the Skype website after April 14th, you may already have the most recent version and won’t see an update available. In which case you don’t need to worry.
Skype 2.8 – the old version of the application which many prefer – isn’t affected by the vulnerability.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
