Good evening everyone.
There has been a ton of articles about this subject. You search this story online and this story is everywhere.
It does sound a lot like Tinfoil Hat stuff but in light of recent events, the scary thing about this story is that it's believable.
An article on wnd.com states
"The National Security Agency has backdoor access to all Windows software since the release of Windows 95, according to informed sources, a development that follows the insistence by the agency and federal law enforcement for backdoor "keys" is essential for the export of any encryption under U.S. export control laws."
"The NSA plays a prominent role in deliberations over whether such products can be exported. It routinely turns down any requests above a megabyte level that exceeds NSA's technical capacity to decrypt it. That's been the standard for years for NSA, as well as the departments of Defense, Commerce and State."
"Computer security specialists say the Windows software driver used for security and encryption functions contains unusual features that give the NSA backdoor access. The security specialists have identified the driver as ADVAPI.DLL. It enables and controls a variety of security functions. The specialists say that in Windows, it is located at C:\\Windows\System."
"A specialist who has been investigating more into this story says that the driver contains two different keys. One was used by Microsoft to control cryptographic functions in Windows while another initially remained a mystery. Then, two weeks ago, a U.S. security firm concluded that the second key belonged to NSA. Analysis of the driver reveal that one was labeled KEY while the other was labeled NSAKEY, according to sources. The NSA key apparently had been built into the software by Microsoft, which Microsoft sources don't deny."
"This has allowed restricted access to Microsoft's source code software that enables such programming. Access to Windows source code is supposed to be highly compartmentalized, actually making such actions easier because many of the people working on the software wouldn't see the access. Such access to the encryption system of Windows can allow NSA to compromise a person's entire operating system. The NSA keys are said to be contained inside all versions of Windows from Windows 95 OSR2 onwards."
"Having a secret key inside the Windows operating system makes it "tremendously easier for the NSA to load unauthorized security services on all copies of Microsoft Windows, and once these security services are loaded, they can effectively compromise your entire operating system," according to Andrew Fernandez, Chief Scientist with Cryptonym Corporation of North Carolina."
______________________________________________________
I keep an ear out about the latest political news and recently there has been a huge controversy about the NSA gathering information on American Citizens via phone records and other forms of digital communication.
They do this via the program PRISM which collects massive amounts of data
What makes this story believable is the existence of PRISM, Snowden's classified information leak and the fact that Microsoft didn't deny that they give the government data on their users.
You can look this up this quote from Microsoft as well and this is the quote you will always find on sites that cover this story.
Microsoft
"We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis. In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don't participate in it."
So Microsoft does not do this voluntarily but if the government asks Microsoft for any data and they have a subpoena with them then yes Microsoft will give the government this information.
Now Microsoft is not the only one here that's guilty, multiple sources also show that Microsoft, Google, AOL, Skype, PalTalk, Youtube, Yahoo!, Facebook and Apple also give the government all kinds of information.
Of course then you have the specifications of the Kinect for the Xbox One and what a German government official said about the Kinect and what can possibly be used as, that's what really makes this story terrifying, the fact that you are buying a console that can be used to spy on you and that the tool that can be used for this is in every bundle of the Xbox One.
Aside from that I don't know what to say guys, I really don't.
There has been a ton of articles about this subject. You search this story online and this story is everywhere.
It does sound a lot like Tinfoil Hat stuff but in light of recent events, the scary thing about this story is that it's believable.
An article on wnd.com states
"The National Security Agency has backdoor access to all Windows software since the release of Windows 95, according to informed sources, a development that follows the insistence by the agency and federal law enforcement for backdoor "keys" is essential for the export of any encryption under U.S. export control laws."
"The NSA plays a prominent role in deliberations over whether such products can be exported. It routinely turns down any requests above a megabyte level that exceeds NSA's technical capacity to decrypt it. That's been the standard for years for NSA, as well as the departments of Defense, Commerce and State."
"Computer security specialists say the Windows software driver used for security and encryption functions contains unusual features that give the NSA backdoor access. The security specialists have identified the driver as ADVAPI.DLL. It enables and controls a variety of security functions. The specialists say that in Windows, it is located at C:\\Windows\System."
"A specialist who has been investigating more into this story says that the driver contains two different keys. One was used by Microsoft to control cryptographic functions in Windows while another initially remained a mystery. Then, two weeks ago, a U.S. security firm concluded that the second key belonged to NSA. Analysis of the driver reveal that one was labeled KEY while the other was labeled NSAKEY, according to sources. The NSA key apparently had been built into the software by Microsoft, which Microsoft sources don't deny."
"This has allowed restricted access to Microsoft's source code software that enables such programming. Access to Windows source code is supposed to be highly compartmentalized, actually making such actions easier because many of the people working on the software wouldn't see the access. Such access to the encryption system of Windows can allow NSA to compromise a person's entire operating system. The NSA keys are said to be contained inside all versions of Windows from Windows 95 OSR2 onwards."
"Having a secret key inside the Windows operating system makes it "tremendously easier for the NSA to load unauthorized security services on all copies of Microsoft Windows, and once these security services are loaded, they can effectively compromise your entire operating system," according to Andrew Fernandez, Chief Scientist with Cryptonym Corporation of North Carolina."
______________________________________________________
I keep an ear out about the latest political news and recently there has been a huge controversy about the NSA gathering information on American Citizens via phone records and other forms of digital communication.
They do this via the program PRISM which collects massive amounts of data
What makes this story believable is the existence of PRISM, Snowden's classified information leak and the fact that Microsoft didn't deny that they give the government data on their users.
You can look this up this quote from Microsoft as well and this is the quote you will always find on sites that cover this story.
Microsoft
"We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis. In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don't participate in it."
So Microsoft does not do this voluntarily but if the government asks Microsoft for any data and they have a subpoena with them then yes Microsoft will give the government this information.
Now Microsoft is not the only one here that's guilty, multiple sources also show that Microsoft, Google, AOL, Skype, PalTalk, Youtube, Yahoo!, Facebook and Apple also give the government all kinds of information.
Of course then you have the specifications of the Kinect for the Xbox One and what a German government official said about the Kinect and what can possibly be used as, that's what really makes this story terrifying, the fact that you are buying a console that can be used to spy on you and that the tool that can be used for this is in every bundle of the Xbox One.
Aside from that I don't know what to say guys, I really don't.
Comments
Post a Comment