A highly misleading headline. Users are not "hit by ransomware" if they're shown an ad that still requires further interaction to download the malware. The headline makes it sound like there is an arbitrary code execution exploit through Skype ads. It's clickbait level.

Also, to the people complaining about Flash: this has nothing to do with Flash, apart from the perpetrators using a name which they thought might sound vaguely familiar to less technically-savvy users. They might just as well have disguised the ad as an important Skype update.

Easy: just disable Skype ads.

MS messed up Skype how do you do that?

So, best way to protect yourself? Don't use Skype?

This is what you get when MS uses advertisement to supplement cash flow. First Skype then it won't be long before the ads in the Start screen become vectors for malware too.

MS, where security is just keyword...

It's not a bug, it's a feature.....

I'd like to say I'm even a little surprised that Microsoft had no comment about this.

jb7757 I'm not... it's the standard response when a megacorp can't spin its way out of a situation.