Microsoft And Nsa about backdoors, spyware and (maybe) the truth about it

[caos dreamer 0]

A CARELESS mistake by Microsoft programmers has revealed that special access codes prepared by the US National Security Agency have been secretly built into Windows. The NSA access system is built into every version of the Windows operating system now in use, except early releases of Windows 95 (and its predecessors). The discovery comes close on the heels of the revelations earlier this year that another US software giant, Lotus, had built an NSA "help information" [local] trapdoor into its Notes system, and that security functions on other software systems had been deliberately crippled.
The first discovery of the new NSA access system was made two years ago by British researcher Dr Nicko van Someren. But it was only a few weeks ago when a second researcher rediscovered the access system. With it, he found the evidence linking it to NSA.

Computer security specialists have been aware for two years that unusual features are contained inside a standard Windows software "driver" used for security and encryption functions. The driver, called ADVAPI.DLL, enables and controls a range of security functions. If you use Windows, you will find it in the C:\Windows\system directory of your computer.

ADVAPI.DLL works closely with Microsoft Internet Explorer, but will only run crypographic functions that the US governments allows Microsoft to export. That information is bad enough news, from a European point of view. Now, it turns out that ADVAPI will run special programmes inserted and controlled by NSA. As yet, no-one knows what these programmes are, or what they do.
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Dr Nicko van Someren reported at last year's Crypto 98 conference that he had disassembled the ADVADPI driver. He found it contained two different keys. One was used by Microsoft to control the cryptographic functions enabled in Windows, in compliance with US export regulations. But the reason for building in a second key, or who owned it, remained a mystery.

A second key

Two weeks ago, a US security company came up with conclusive evidence that the second key belongs to NSA. Like Dr van Someren, Andrew Fernandez, chief scientist with Cryptonym of Morrisville, North Carolina, had been probing the presence and significance of the two keys. Then he checked the latest Service Pack release for Windows NT4, [extern] Service Pack 5. He found that Microsoft's developers had failed to remove or "strip" the debugging symbols used to test this software before they released it. Inside the code were the labels for the two keys. One was called "KEY". The other was called "NSAKEY".

Fernandes reported his re-discovery of the two CAPI keys, and their secret meaning, to "Advances in Cryptology, Crypto'99" conference held in Santa Barbara. According to those present at the conference, Windows developers attending the conference did not deny that the "NSA" key was built into their software. But they refused to talk about what the key did, or why it had been put there without users' knowledge.

Read on about a third key here
https://www.heise.de/tp/features/How-NSA-access-was-built-into-Windows-3444341.html

iam really afraid of getting vista while reading all those articles about it...

[intmun 0]

Read on about a third key here

https://www.heise.de/tp/features/How-NSA-access-was-built-into-Windows-3444341.html

 

iam really afraid of getting vista while reading all those articles about it...

 

So am I...although is it really that much of a surprise that the government is able to tap into all our computers at any time??? You'd think htat would be the least they would do.

[caos dreamer 0]

considering that what i heard of M$ and the possibilites fpr them to make money with that kind of control system i really belive that those things or similar could happen. i mean many industries (music one or advertising researches) would pay alot to get some informations about whats going on on the cpmputers...

[AbraahamLcn 0]

Give me link to SEO software (promotion, advertisement, etc.). I'm need it to promote my new e-shop. Thanks.

Notice from saint-michael:

This is off topic and thread hijacking, pay attention to topic titles before posting.

[caos dreamer 0]

Give me link to SEO software (promotion, advertisement, etc.). I'm need it to promote my new e-shop. Thanks.

isnt this post a bit missplaced here? as far as i know seo is Search Engine Optimiser or something like that and this isnt really releated to the topic

[Spyda 0]

So am I...although is it really that much of a surprise that the government is able to tap into all our computers at any time??? You'd think htat would be the least they would do.

that does suck, but i dont care since i use XP and have no interest in buying a vista, but that still does suck for those in the middle of getting the new Windows Vista!

[blendergalactica 0]

All OS's made in the US have to give their encryption keys to the US government before they be exported.

[caos dreamer 0]

thats new to me O.O in my opinion this is a big trust - abuse of M$ . i mean spying their paying users for money or anything else - who knows what they do spy for- cant be tha right thing. i have a legal version of XP but iam using a tweaked one wich is much more stable and faster so i also think that M$ products need to be hacked to be good products - strange marketing strategy

[Lyon2 0]

The us government/nsa has been helping all of the usa big companies to stay at the top of their business to "win" over european companies in the same market.That technology helped a lot of big usa companies in the past and will continue in the future, they use it to spy on competitors, enemies and terrorists, that is a fact.Europe knows usa spies like that, with that technology, but the problem is to prove it!

Edited January 15, 2007 by Lyon2 (see edit history)

[caos dreamer 0]

its also a problem that microsoft has some kind of monopole. of course you are free to use different os but you can hardly use all the suftware or play those games you want to. there is a open source remake of ic and it has been told that is is on the state of an worling 98 system so far. microsoft can do almost everything they want to abd noone has enaugh power to stop then. iam using windows, too but if there would be an alternative i would change as soon as possible.

[Jimmy 0]

That is extremely scary, not that theyd want or would put the effort into hijacking "normal" people's computers but still... This could easily get turned around by hackers I reckon...
I will be looking out for more news:
has anyone visited https://www.cryptonym.com/ in the past whilst it was working, I followed it from a link on the one about the third key from here!
It appears that they have been shut down! all you get is a message on their home page and every other page does not exist...

Yes, this is the website of Cryptonym Corporation (of the "NSA Key" fame).
I hope to, sometime in the near future, put a brief explanation the whole story online, so stay tuned...

interesting, itd be nice to know what happened to them!
Edited January 19, 2007 by Jimmy (see edit history)

[caos dreamer 0]

this is getting very misterious O.o

[Watermonkey 0]

its also a problem that microsoft has some kind of monopole. of course you are free to use different os but you can hardly use all the suftware or play those games you want to. there is a open source remake of ic and it has been told that is is on the state of an worling 98 system so far. microsoft can do almost everything they want to abd noone has enaugh power to stop then. iam using windows, too but if there would be an alternative i would change as soon as possible.

 

M$ doesn't have a "monopole", nor does it have a monopoly. Go look up that word if you can't grasp that fact. What is it you use your precious Windoz machine for that you can't get on the Apple platform? If ain't there now it'll be there soon. Apple's growing by leaps and bounds and soon even the smaller software companies will have to start porting their wares or risk loosing BIG $$$. Apple posted $1B profit for Q1 2007 and their market share was at 4.7% this year, up 1.1% a year ago. They're the number 4 computer maker in terms of sales as listed in IDC's rankings of U.S. shipments.

 

More to the topic at hand, Apple's OS must also contain code that allows the National Security Agency to more easily track its users, but their OS is open source, right? Where would such a code be, or would it be in a physical chip? I don't understand how you can hide such a thing...

[street 0]

M$ doesn't have a "monopole", nor does it have a monopoly. Go look up that word if you can't grasp that fact. What is it you use your precious Windoz machine for that you can't get on the Apple platform? If ain't there now it'll be there soon. Apple's growing by leaps and bounds and soon even the smaller software companies will have to start porting their wares or risk loosing BIG $$$. Apple posted $1B profit for Q1 2007 and their market share was at 4.7% this year, up 1.1% a year ago. They're the number 4 computer maker in terms of sales as listed in IDC's rankings of U.S. shipments.

 

More to the topic at hand, Apple's OS must also contain code that allows the National Security Agency to more easily track its users, but their OS is open source, right? Where would such a code be, or would it be in a physical chip? I don't understand how you can hide such a thing...

 

Well you can put almost anything in a chip. Take a video game disc for example it has a whole game in there so putting a code in a chip is really simple they also will be able to put it in another way when you are setting up your computer for the first time. This is how i see it there is no way to run from the government even if you get a mac they will still find a way to put that file in the macs so don't be scared to get the new vista cause of those articles cause whatever computer brand you choose to get i guarantee the government is already in it.

[caos dreamer 0]

monopoly or monopole.... sorry for my spelling but i sad it has KIND OF... i know that there are alternatives .