The Indian government has asked the Skype users in the country to be cautious about 'malicious spam' that has been 'lurking' in the vicinity of cyber networks of users of the popular internet-based audio-video communicator. Security experts have suggested several measures to counter the spam.

A government advisory to Skype users says: "A malicious spam campaign is on the rise targeting Skype users by sending instant message which appears to come from friends in the Skype contact list”.

Cyber security experts have suggested a number of counter-measures to tackle the malicious spam. The experts have suggested users not to "follow unsolicited web links or attachments in Skype messages and install latest security updates to Skype".

"Download the latest version of the Skype from the trusted markets, install and maintain updated anti-virus software at gateway and desktop level, use caution when opening attachments and accepting file transfers, disable auto play feature as a safe practice.