Pre-2017 Skype chatsync
(Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Telephony |extension={{ext|dat}} |released=2003<ref>Wikipedia:Skype</ref> }} Before a change some time in or before 2017<ref>M...") |
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| − | Before a change some time in or before 2017<ref>Message at top of http://fouryears.eu/2015/01/22/skype-removed-messages/</ref>, the [[Telephony|VoIP]] + [[E-Mail,_newsgroups,_and_forums#Chat.2C_Texting_and_Instant_Messaging|chat]] program [[Skype]] stored its message history in several binary files collected under a directory | + | Before a change some time in or before 2017<ref>Message at top of http://fouryears.eu/2015/01/22/skype-removed-messages/</ref>, the [[Telephony|VoIP]] + [[E-Mail,_newsgroups,_and_forums#Chat.2C_Texting_and_Instant_Messaging|chat]] program [[Skype]] stored a copy of its message history in several binary files collected under a directory named "'''chatsync'''". These are particularly useful, especially in comparison to [[Skype main.db|the main Skype log/history database]], because they purportedly contain messages that had been "deleted" by the client. Under the "chatsync" directory, the individual files, which have the extension .dat and a main name consisting of 8 bytes represented in hexadecimal (to make 16 ASCII characters), are placed into directories named after the first two characters (i.e. the first byte, as represented in hexadecimal) of their name.<ref name="effect2_personal">A Skype database, last modified late 2014, from an installation by [[User:Effect2]]</ref> |
== Identification == | == Identification == | ||
Latest revision as of 03:28, 12 April 2019
Before a change some time in or before 2017[2], the VoIP + chat program Skype stored a copy of its message history in several binary files collected under a directory named "chatsync". These are particularly useful, especially in comparison to the main Skype log/history database, because they purportedly contain messages that had been "deleted" by the client. Under the "chatsync" directory, the individual files, which have the extension .dat and a main name consisting of 8 bytes represented in hexadecimal (to make 16 ASCII characters), are placed into directories named after the first two characters (i.e. the first byte, as represented in hexadecimal) of their name.[3]
[edit] Identification
.dat files appear to have the magic number 73 43 64 72 07, as represented in hexadecimal.[4]
[edit] Links
- [1]: A Python tool (Pip package name skype-chatsync-reader) capable of reading the files (this does not seem to work with [3]; it is possible that the change was not even around 2017 but rather pre-2014)
- An attempt to document the structure of the .dat format
- Another program for reading .dat files
[edit] References
- ↑ Wikipedia:Skype
- ↑ Message at top of http://fouryears.eu/2015/01/22/skype-removed-messages/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A Skype database, last modified late 2014, from an installation by User:Effect2
- ↑ https://www.hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/archives/231-Skype-Logs.html#c1066
