Fugitive's Skype call leads to his arrest

Here's a tip for all you privacy freaks out there: Skype isn't nearly as secure as you might think. Just ask Kobi Alexander, wanted by the Feds on charges of financial fraud, who was nabbed found by a private investigator earlier this week. Moshe Buller, the private investigator who's been trying to locate Alexander, tracked him down when Alexander's Skype call was traced to a computer in Sri Lanka. Alexander, the former CEO of the scandal-ridden Comverse, had been on the lam from U.S. authorities for a few weeks, and at one point his mugshot graced the website of the FBI. But fear not security-mongers, our friends at Ars link to a year-old study out from George Mason University that says that VoIP can be secured. Or not.

Update: Ryan points out in the comments that Bloomberg News is reporting that Alexander may have left Sri Lanka before actually being arrested.

Update 2: We traded emails with the Bloomberg News reporter, Jonathan Ferziger, who's been following the case, and who told us that Alexander was not arrested, according to Sri Lankan police spokesman Rienzi Perera. Ferziger added that Moshe Buller, the private investigator who's been on the case, "presumably knows where he went, although he hasn't said so publicly."

[Via Ars Technica]