“If you’re a Windows 2000 user, be warned: Your security
software may not work the way you think it does.“
“Microsoft intentionally designed Windows 2000 so that export
versions can use a notoriously weak encryption method to scramble
information sent over the Internet and intranets, leaving sensitive
data exposed to hackers and eavesdroppers….”
“A Microsoft manager on Monday defended why Windows 2000
computers in some circumstances switch from the highly secure
triple-DES algorithm to the notoriously weak single-DES variant.
Triple-DES is up to 70,000 trillion times stronger.”
“Ron Cully, lead program manager for Windows networking, said
that companies might have thousands of machines and some might not
have triple-DES installed. Because of U.S. export and other import
restrictions, Microsoft ships triple-DES in a separate “high
encryption pack.”