Longhorn Is Spyware ! Before you even think about ibstalling Loghorn..read this

[RGPHNX 0]

Hi all,

Nobody has reported on this so.. thought I'd open it for a forum opinion poll.

 

As reported in a recent CNET.com article..

Microsoft to add 'black box' to Windows

Published: April 26, 2005, 4:00 AM PDT

By Ina Fried

Staff Writer, CNET News.com

 

TrackBack Print E-mail TalkBack

SEATTLE--In a move that could rankle privacy advocates, Microsoft said Monday that it is adding the PC equivalent of a flight data recorder to the next version of Windows, in an effort to better understand and prevent computer crashes.

 

The tool will build on the existing Watson error-reporting tool in Windows but will provide Microsoft with much deeper information, including what programs were running at the time of the error and even the contents of documents that were being created. Businesses will also choose whether they want their own technology managers to receive such data when an employee's machine crashes.

 

"Think of it as a flight data recorder, so that any time there's a problem, that 'black box' is there helping us work together and diagnose what's going on," Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said during a speech at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference here..............

.

 

You can read the entire article here..

Longhorn Spyware details

 

What this means ..According to the article.. is..

If Windows Longhorn crashes while you are using ANY program.. the ENTIRE contents (ie a EXACT copy) of what you were working on will go to Misco$oft when you click on the "Report the problem" popup screen.

 

That means MicroSoft will get a EXACT COPY of your..

-email

-IM

-IRC

-Word document(s)

-XL document(s)

-Powerpoint document(s)

-password information, including banking & credit card information.

-ANY OTHER program documents your working on

-the names, serial numbers, registration numbers of ANY PROGRAM installed on your computer.

 

Basically, Micro$oft will get a copy of anything it wants from your computer... as long as you have the program open at the time that Window$ crashes.... AND they won't even notify you of what info they have taken.

 

So.. the poll question is..

 

Do you trust Micro$oft with your confidential information ??

[BuffaloHelp 24]

This is true. Actually Windows XP does that now. But it?s minus the all the actual data but it records what was running at the time of the crash. However, according to an inside source, Microsoft has to pay hundreds of hours of man power to sit there and sniff through the error record to find maybe one faulty line error. Therefore, as a personal PC data record, and unless you want to pay extra for Microsoft to figure out only your problem, Microsoft would never look at an error data coming from a personal computer. Microsoft will, however, look at the data error from DuPont, IBM, banks and other establishments that is willing to fork over millions of dollars to unpack the error data and recompile it line by line to see what went on.It is scary that this error data dump is getting smarter and smarter that it can flash-backup the state of your PC. Think about the bandwidth it?ll eat up while uploading?HA~!

[midnightvamp 1]

This is all way too creepy. It's like I'm being spied on and I don't even know about it. I had no idea what is going on in these computers and the more I hear, the less I like, not that I can do anything about it. I know too that since I had to rent this computer off the college, when they get it back, they'll probably know every little thing I've done on this computer.I haven't done anything illegal, so that wouldn't be a problem, but just knowing that someone else could go through my personal files (even if I delete them) is kind of scary.Whatever, the marvels of technology...

[snlildude87 0]

Bah! I've known about this for a while now. However, I don't think you can really prevent your computer from being spied on if you plan to buy a computer after 2006 because, like Windows XP, I think that Windows Longhorn will be installed on all new computers.The only effective way to prevent Microsoft, spywares, adwares, or viruses from entering your computer is abstinence. That is, don't connect to the internet, and never let any computer stick their dirty little CDs and floppies into your computer.And even if you get a virus, you can easily get rid of it with all the good antivirus programs out there. *cough* NOT Norton *cough*

[midnightvamp 1]

Yea... this is true. I'm sure eventually everything will be monitored just like you see in the movies. Not exactly a good thing, but I suppose you just learn to live with it or hide out in the woods for the rest of your life. I actually planned to do this as a child. I had it all planned out... build myself a little house... live of the land... not that I'd ever be able to do that. Especially now that I have the internet. I love technology more than my privacy. How sad is that?That said... what is wrong with Norton? I'm just curious, it's not like I use it anyway... but perhaps I should know why I shouldn't choose it in the future?

[icemarle 0]

Honestly, I wouldn't exactly call that spyware... but an operating system that spies on you when your computer has a problem. It's virtually impossible to avoid problems... Isn't there supposed to be an option not to send info? But if it works very similar to a black box... That means it records everything?

[moldboy 0]

That means it records everything?

Well technicacly speaking everything is recorded already, and there is nothing you can do about it! That's how the computer works, Linux, Windows, Mac, you name it everything you type/ run is recorded, it needs to be how else do you expect the info to get from your KB to the program?
As far as the send error, I don't honestly think that's a good Idea, if I were a bank manager (or any other person of great authority) I wouldn't be allowing this feature in my office as I would fear the private personal info of my customers that might be open. And as such sent to Micrsoft. Yeah I trust them with my info, But that doesn't mean I want all my open information sent to microsoft, say you were being investigaed by CSIS (canadian equivlant of FBI) and they felt that you were hiding something that might have apeened durring a crash, a warrant of that information from microsft might be granted, and then it doesn't matter how much I trust micrsoft

[guangdian 0]

oh.... i think we need Giant anti spyware for it..but Gint anti is soft of microsoft then they kill themselves.haha:)_

[coolkarthik007 0]

well i always knew that. i think win95 is the best windows ever. no spying nothing longhorn promises a lot but takes a lot too i think it steals source code rather

[wariorpk 0]

Ok this is Bad! I personally think that there should be an option to turn this off or Microsoft scrap it completely or I'm switching to MAC since its better anyways. Ok thats what I think most people would agree I think.

[Hamtaro 0]

There's no way I'd trust Microsoft with that kind of information! They're a large company, with many employees, some whom would probably be the ones looking at that information. In XP, you don't have to send the crash information, but if you HAVE to in Longhorn, then there would be absolutely no way I'd ever use it! I think I may just switch over to Linux...when I can get it. I don't really care if that information could help them prevent crashes. That's too much info to send, especially for an error report.

[bureX 0]

I think that Micro$oft is pushing his luck... Eventually, Linux and other alternative operating systems will become more and more user friendly and more functional than ever, and when you combine that fact with the word "free", you will get allot of ex-Windows users!Besides... If Micro$oft would spend a little more time fixing and beta-testing their software than developing error reporting systems, maybe this whole mess could have been avoided!Linux is open source. That means that every person on this planet can have full access to the Linux source code and detect/fix any error that he/she encounters. At Micro$oft, only a handful of employees have the full access to the Windows source code, and they have their hands full when there is a need to detect and repair bugs and errors!I will never see the Microsoft employees at work while reading my error report, so nobody can guarantee that they are not reading my e-mails or taking a peek at my passwords! Creepy!Maybe they will be able to see if somebody's Windows XP copy is a legal one by using these error reports! (Maybe that?s the point of error reporting, because I doubt that a bunch of hex code can help them very much with the process of fixing the error)All of this does not seem like an important thing right away, but I would recommend reading the 2nd chapter (part two) from the Kevin Mitnick's book "Art Of Deception": "When Innocuous Information Isn't"The title speaks for itself.

[XeNoToSs 0]

-__________- now that microsoft will be doing that to the new version of windows. that would make alot of people pissed off about it. When they have all this imformation... dont you think that people might try and hack into microsoft's stuff and get imformationa bout ppl? think of alllll the things microsoft can get with longhorns. me... iono but i think thats just stupid to do that sort of thing....

[RGPHNX 0]

Hi all, good comments.. some ppl forgot to vote though :lol:Keep the comments coming..RGPHNX

[bureX 0]

Hmmmmm... Maybe!Everybody knows what is Micro$oft and how much money does it have, so allot of people are trying to penetrate into their servers every minute! The bigger you are, a bigger bulls eye can be placed on you!Error reporting workstations have to be online as much as possible (uptime 99,99% at least)! Those workstations use Micro$oft's software, and everybody knows how often do security patches get available - usually a few weeks after the security issue has been discovered (that's because it takes allot of time to discover the error and make a solution, like I said in my previous post).One day, a high-risk security issue will be discovered, and an attacker will be able to collect personal information from the error reports, information like:-The name of the person that submitted the error report - not very dangerous-The e-mail of that person - dangerous, can lead to loads of spam, "phishing", etc.-A credit card number - very dangerousMicro$oft can put their shields down for only one minute, and ... bang!However, because of this possibility, Micro$oft has focused on developing security updates in the last few years (such as Service Pack 2) and the new Longhorn will be more secure than ever! (I hope...)They probably have their hard disks encrypted, the workstation internet access limited to send information to only one IP address and they probably check their employees very often.Even though gaining access to the Micro$oft servers is almost impossible, there are a whole lot of people just sitting there... staring at Micro$oft like vultures and waiting for it to make a wrong move.PS: Micro$oft <--- it's a habit to use a "$" every time instead of the letter "s"