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Internet and social network users were in uproar on Wednesday over claims the internet-phone service Skype was vulnerable to hacking by anyone who knows a user's associated email address, RIA Novosti reported.

Russian Skype users complained of mass instances of accounts being taken over. Top blogger Anton Nosik, media director of the SUP Media company which owns Live Journal, was one of those affected.

The weakness in Skype systems allows hackers who know the email address used to register on Skype to reset the password and get control of the account.

As a RIA Novosti correspondent established, a "how-to" guide posted on internet forums proved very effective, and required no specialist skills.

After registering a new login using the target user's email address, it is not long before a hacker can gain enough control of the service to change the password, and access the account. From there they can access the accounts of other people who are listed as contacts, change their passwords, and so on.

RIA Novosti has not yet received any comment on the situation from Microsoft Corporation, which owns Skype.

In order to minimize the risk, users are advised to change the email address they used to register on Skype and keep it hidden.

Initial information about the Skype hacking was published earlier this week on the Xeksec hacker's forum, which was no longer accessible on Wednesday morning in Moscow, but that data had already been redistributed via other sites.

According to messages on Community.Skype.com, information about Skype's vulnerability to hacking had already been published in July this year, but nothing had been done to address this weakness.

Skype was established in 2003, and had gained 500 million registered users this year, growing by 170 million annually. The system needs a special program to work, which is found commonly on most PCs. Microsoft Corporation bought Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion.