NSA Tentacles in Microsoft Vista

Inforworld writes about how Microsoft has collaborated with the NSA in the development of Windows Vista’s security:

The U.S. agency best known for eavesdropping on telephone calls had a hand in the development of Microsoft’s Vista operating system, Microsoft confirmed Tuesday.
The National Security Agency (NSA) stepped in to help Microsoft develop a configuration of its next-generation operating system that would meet U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) requirements, said NSA Spokesman Ken White.
[...]
Still, the NSA’s involvement in Vista raises red flags for some. “There could be some good reason for concern,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). “Some bells are going to go off when the government’s spy agency is working with the private sector’s top developer of operating systems.”
Part of this concern may stem from the NSA’s reported historical interest in gaining “back-door” access to encrypted data produced by products from U.S. computer companies like Microsoft.
In 1999, U.S. Congressman Curt Weldon said that “high level deal-making on access to encrypted data had taken place between the NSA and IBM and Microsoft,” according to EPIC’s Web site.
With Vista expected to eventually power the majority of the world’s personal computers, it would be tempting for the government agency to push for a way to gain access to data on these systems, privacy advocates say.

More info from Microsoft here.

This problem is not new and exists even in earlier versions of Windows like Windows XP. The German military has even banned Microsoft software because they belive that the NSA is using Windows to spy.

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