Is Microsoft Working With The NSA?? Windows apparently has a backdoor for NSA.

Greetings all , i hope u r all well.
I was just doing abit of web surfing and i came across this which truly made me think of the possibilities.
This external piece is from the website www.theforbiddenknowledge.com...

Careless mistake reveals subversion of Windows by NSA.

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" trapdoor into its Notes system, and that security functions on other software systems had been deliberately crippled.
Researchers are divided about whether the NSA key could be intended to let US government users of Windows run classified crypto systems on their machines or whether it is intended to open up anyone's and everyone's Windows computer to intelligence gathering techniques deployed by NSA's burgeoning corps of "information warriors".
According to Fernandez of Cryptonym, the result of having the secret key inside your Windows operating system "is that it is 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". The NSA key is contained inside all versions of Windows from Windows 95 OSR2 onwards.

I found this interesting , there have been precidents in which the NSA have been know to try and gain access to computers for infomation decryption and information gathering.
I would just like to know what all your thoughts are on this?
Many thanks.
Omega

[edit on 13/5/2006 by Omega85]

I would also like to add to my prev post that recently i have taken a great interest in the National Security Agency and i have been doing some extensive research on them.
i would like to know what your thoughts are on this subject.
Also there is abit more about it on the mentioned site so if u like i would suggest readin it as i could not post all the data due to ATS protocoll, which i respect entirely so i would really encourage those that are interested in this to go and have a look at the full article
and let me know what you think.

Many thanks

Omega85



[edit on 13/5/2006 by Omega85]

Its certainly a worry dude and i wouldnt put it past any goverment or some sort of callaboration with microsoft to do such a thing, i mean if you think about it, nearly every person you will meet is using windows in some form or another...what better way to spy on the rest of the planet than using the one tool every one is so confident with storing or relaying information with?

i wouldnt be suprised if something doesnt sufrace shortly thats a bit more condeming for microsoft.

Regards..good post.

I've been told a million times, but I never listen. I need to start running Linux. It's good that it's available, but I'm sure that it will be criminalized in the future.

Indeed..

As a matter of fact after reading this I started downloading Ubuntu (Linux Distro) and will be trying it and if it's ok installing it asap.

greetings all.

This is indeed an issue that i think needs to be addressed.
imagine the possibilities?
its allmost scary to think that nothing is sacred anymore.
NWO i wonder?
perhaps not but still it is interesting.

Omega

WGA convinced me linux was ready for the desktop world. I hate it serverside. So far I'm lovin me some debian. Quicken is the only thing that keeps windows around.

This sounds more like just an easier way for spyware to break encryption. MS says the naming of the second key was a bad choice. I'm inclined to agree as there's really no evidence to support anything sinister.

CNN.com

"It's not a backdoor. No data encryption is done with these keys; they are signing keys only," said Culp... Microsoft's security product manager

www.nsclean.com...

This "bug" in Windows is NOT a trojan horse or an attack on your system, nor can it even remotely be used by government agencies to gain access to any machine by itself. In order to gain access to your machine, a separate executable program, Microsoft _javascript, ASP script or ActiveX control must interface with the flawed libraries in order to exploit this hole.

[edit on 13-5-2006 by apc]

greetings.

I must say that i wouldnt trust people from either of those two parties on this.
i think what they say would be somewhat biased and i think they would say what they want us to hear, as is the way with most powerfull organisations.
just a thought

Omega85

PSC (nsclean.com) is a relatively small privacy/security software company.
I dont think there's a terribly high concern for deception from them.
But hey I could be wrong.

Did anyone noticed the date on the top of the page?

It says "04.09.1999"

In the last 7 years since this "warning", nobody found anything suspicious in Windows 2000, XP or 2003.

This was just one of the ways people have used to try to convince other people to abandon Windows and change to Linux or Mac based computers.

I have had a look around at this and found references to the NSAKEY in windows 2000.
If it is in 2000 then whois to say that it is not in the other operating systems?
I will research this more and post as i find.
Untill then please let me know your thoughts i will respect them all.
Omega

It is a legitimate security issue, which is why it was found. Backdoors are usually well hidden.

With the dawn of IE4 in Windows 95 OSR2 came 128bit encryption. So naturally this key would be in every version since.

Just add this one to the very long list of windows vulnerabilities.

>
now this is posted to ATSNN? that's pretty sad. As pointed out, this originally came out 7 years ago and saw no further developments.

[edit on 13-5-2006 by apc]

Everyone is entitled to there opinions , that is what this place is for.
facts are facts and nomatter how long ago this was released we must all , here at ats
deny ignorance

"NSA Have Backdoor Into Windows"
I think that would be a pretty clean cut example of a biased misleading headline.
Independent organizations confirmed this is not a back door. It is not even a serious security risk. In 7 years of knowledge, with a constantly increasing number of programmers utilizing these keys, why has anyone else not expressed concern?

Because it's not an NSA backdoor into windows.

[edit on 13-5-2006 by apc]

If u will ,
Are there facts on this?
if so , post them.
It would validate your points more clearly.

Omega

I already did.

Instead of blowing them off as disinfo, try reading the articles I posted.

Logic works too:

Make a backdoor signature key for the NSA, clearly labelled NSAKEY, and place it somewhere where it will definitely be found by thousands of people.

Does that hold up?

These are your opinions.
and i didnt blow them off?
if i did how would i reply to them?
anyway facts are facts
deny ignorance

Yes... facts are facts.

Fact:
In a windows IE 128bit encryption DLL, there exists a signature key with the designator " _nsakey "

From that, you ASSUME, based on a severely biased article from an obviously unknowledgable author, that this is a secret way for the National Security Agency to hack into peoples computers. I think the only way someone could safely conclude this belief to be fact is if the key were labelled "_SuperSecretNationalSecurityAgencyHackedKey"

Again, instead of ignoring it, consult the article from nsclean.com. 7 years ago, when this came out, they investigated it on their own. It was in their interests afterall, being an independent security software company. Loop at nsclean.com. They aren't exactly Big Brother in disguise.

Privacy Software Corporation has studied this issue extensively over a five day period following the release of a security alert by Cryptonym on August 31, 1999 and has come to conclusions radically different from those reached by Cryptonym and reports in various media since the report was released by Cryptonym.We have determined that the "_nsakey" discovered by Cryptonym is in fact nothing more than a second "public key" and is not in any way, shape or form a "back door."

I would LOVE it if there turned out to be some federal backdoor into all windows computers, but this simply does not appear to be it.

Deny Ignorance...

indeed deny ignorance
is this the only article or are there more?
I will research this project more,
i have allready done a great deal of research on the NSA and this really isnt that far fetched comapared to there other pc related operations.
One must also ask themselves, if the nsa told u not to talk would u take the risk and do it?
just a thought.
deny ignorance

Omega

Can't the NSA (or anyone else with the knowledge/tech requirements) monitor and do anything else they want to our computers/internet use? Likely without our knowledge??? Seems like BS to me-just like the story about monitoring our phone calls. Big deal?......Tell me your name and I bet I can find out who you call, or what sites you visit on the net. And people are surprised that the NSA(!) does that? Come on........Why don't we hear anything about ECHELON, Sugar Grove, etc. in the news? Do they even need the phone companies/ISPs cooperation to monitor our elec coms???? The only thing remotely surprising to me about the article is that they would name it "nsakey".

All right....it just occurred to me....this thread is a joke.......right?????