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osOpinion: The NSA and Microsoft or the State of the Individual

[ Thanks to Kelly
McNeill
for this link. ]

The revelation by Antonio Fernandes on Friday that the NSA
has a decryption key in the 32-bit version of Windows has been
muted by the long weekend. No doubt that on Tuesday the outrage
will be vivid and vociferous.

“…the NSA must be really infuriated at Microsoft for this
gaffe. With a single programming oversight, the NSA has lost a
critical advantage to spy on every Windows computer in the world.
Foreign computer users, whether private or public, will either
switch to LINUX, UNIX or reprogram the keys so that the NSA takes
longer to penetrate their machines.”

“Microsoft is in real trouble because this revelation will do
more to harm its reputation than any Slash dot article or security
hole embarrassment. Many foreign computer users will now look at
Microsoft as an extension of the American spy community even though
that’s not the case. MS will simply lose big contracts or its
clients will demand major concessions with regard to
encryption.”


Complete Story

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