[ Thanks to Malte
Cornils for this link. ]
“Microsoft Installs US Spy Agency with Windows”
“Between Hotmail hacks and browser bugs, Microsoft has a dismal
track record in computer security. Most of us accept these minor
security flaws and go on with life. But how is an IT manager to
feel when they learn that in every copy of Windows sold, Microsoft
has installed a ‘back door’ for the National Security Agency (NSA –
the USA’s spy agency) making it orders of magnitude easier for the
US government to access their computers?”
“While investigating the security subsystems of WindowsNT4,
Cryptonym’s Chief Scientist Andrew Fernandes discovered exactly
that – a back door for the NSA in every copy of Win95/98/NT4 and
Windows2000. Building on the work of Nicko van Someren (NCipher),
and Adi Shamir (the ‘S’ in ‘RSA’), Andrew was investigating
Microsoft’s ‘CryptoAPI’ architecture for security flaws. Since the
CryptoAPI is the fundamental building block of cryptographic
security in Windows, any flaw in it would open Windows to
electronic attack.”