Skype sounds great - but is it safe?
The explosive growth of Instant Messaging (IM) and Peer to Peer (P2P) networks such as Skype has been accompanied by a 2200% increase in attacks on such networks in 2005 compared with 2004, according to Face Time Labs.
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Alternative
There is another solution being sold by Vonage. What they provide is a separate broadband router. The router has an inbuilt firewall, fully stealthed, and three ethernet ports plus two telephone connection points.
By plugging in your telephone you do not need to have a computer switched on to make calls. The downside is you have to pay a monthly fee but all calls are free or at a lower cost than your telcos. The electricity used costs about 1GBP if running both a cable modem and the router.
The ethernet ports can be connected to PC's directly or to another router. Full DHCP is provided along with other methods. The router is a LinkSys RT31P2. Battery backup is recommended for emergency 112 calls just in case the power goes off.
Its saving us tons of money and giving better use of an always on broadband connection. The use of your PC for VoIP can cause problems. This example, Skype 2.0 looks like a virus is just another.