"Microsoft moved swiftly on Friday to deny
allegations that it included an NSA (U.S.
National Security Agency) back door into the
Windows operating system..."
"The software company said the key was labeled
NSA because the NSA acted as the review body for
the restricted export of encryption technology from
the U.S., and that key was designed to be compliant
with U.S. export laws. Microsoft said the
NSA-labeled key was simply a "back-up" for the
one used by Microsoft to allow it to update
cryptography components (labeled "KEY")..."
"Microsoft said the back-up key was there should
the original ever be lost due to a natural disaster.
The company also acknowledged the name of the
key was "unfortunate."
"I don't believe them -- what kind of natural disaster
are they talking about? A meteor destroying all the earth's
structures?" said Privacy International director general,
Simon Davies."Microsoft's argument is inconsistent with its
operating procedure -- it could hold a single key in
multiple locations, that is a standard security procedure."
He added that to compromise user security, "it's not
necessary to share access with the NSA -- simply complying
with their requirements will do that."
