[ Thanks to theHippo for this link.
]
“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.”