Domestic Spying: NSA has backdoor key to ALL versions of Microsoft Windows

[SavetheUSA]

A careless mistake by Microsoft programmers has shown that special access codes for use by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) have been secretly built into all versions of the Windows operating system….

But according to two witnesses attending the conference, even Microsoft’s top crypto programmers were stunned to learn that the version of ADVAPI.DLL shipping with Windows 2000 contains not two, but three keys. Brian LaMachia, head of CAPI development at Microsoft was “stunned” to learn of these discoveries, by outsiders. This discovery, by van Someren, was based on advance search methods which test and report on the “entropy” of programming code…

According to Fernandes of Cryptonym, the result of having the secret key inside your Windows operating system “is that it is tremendously easier for the NSA to load unauthorized security services on all copies of Microsoft Windows, and once these security services are loaded, they can effectively compromise your entire operating system”. The NSA key is contained inside all versions of Windows from Windows 95 OSR2 onward…
http://benfrank.net/blog/2006/03/01/microsoft_nsa_backdoor/

[Deja Q]

1. Only a fool would be stunned. After all, this is MICROSOFT.

Their entire history is full of slipshod works.

[shadowknows69]

2. If you don't think they could sneak their way into firefox too

you're dreaming.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[alfredo]

10. Firefox is open source. Sooner or later a coder would find it.

Anyway, don't you think the maintainers of the code would look over anything coming from a contributor?

[bridgit]

5. didn't this come out some 2-3 years ago shortly after the launch...

of the software...i remember hearing about it long ago :shrug: plus, Microsoft does gov work, i can see cross-coding as an institutional downside quite easily

[Nomad559]

14. Only a fool would believe this nonsense

This urban legend has been around for years.

:silly:

[Stand and Fight]

36. I agree wtih you...

But I don't think most are listening here or even following the links that don't work that they've posted. What happened to fact checking on DU? :shrug:

[alittlelark]

17. Hubby joined Microsoft in '86 w/ a Stanford MBA

There were 3 buildings, and the footprints of a few others. We lived on Mercer Island for 10 months.

He left 9 months later.... 'The company was a parasite that would go nowhwere'.

He had morals.... but, damn, that could have bought us A LOT of CO and NM property.


Neither of us are sorry.

[nolabels]

20. There is many a coward that would wish to live in shadows

There is freeper following of late that is legion on these boards, they feign truth and echo a outrage of it in unison. Your story and million of others that have done similar is the glue that holds us and all things together. It is them defining moments when you have to say "NO" that are some of the best and well remembered. Being in the HUMAN race is never easy as it seems but if feels good when you know you are part of it.

(snip)
He had white horses
And ladies by the score
All dressed in satin
And waiting by the door

Ooooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooooh, what a lucky man he was

White lace and feathers
They made up his bed
A gold covered mattress
On which he was laid

Ooooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooooh, what a lucky man he was

He went to fight wars
For his country and his king
Of his honor and his glory
The people would sing

Ooooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooooh, what a lucky man he was

A bullet had found him
His blood ran as he cried
No money could save him
So he laid down and he died

Ooooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooooh, what a lucky man he was
(snip)
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/emerson-lake-palmer-lucky-man-lyrics.html

[bleever]

3. Who knew there'd be so much competition to be the Antichrist?

Recommended.

[ContraBass Black]

4. Just wait until somebody else takes advantage of this

Like the Sony rootkit.

[bridgit]

7. i'm sure chinese hackers are working 24/7 trying to source all manner...

of same

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bridgit]

9. sure, plus you can play with maya cgi to your heart's content...

:P :hi:

[alfredo]

11. If there is a back door in there, it would be used for industrial

espionage or keeping an eye on foreign governments. After the end of the cold war, the focus of our intelligence agencies changed to help US businesses. No wonder we missed 9-11.

[originalpckelly]

12. We must keep this bumped for all to know...

we need to make sure this gets on the news. I will e-mail Keith, and see if he will take a look at it. We must e-mail this to Keith.

[originalpckelly]

13. Everyone else, e-mail this story to Keith...

keep sending it in.
[e-mail]

[SavetheUSA]

31. great idea

[ThsMchneKilsFascists]

15. This has been known since 1999

and is one of the main reasons the Chinese government now uses LINUX.

[Semblance]

16. Fairy tale

Gee, if it is on the internet, it must be true. No evidence for this ridiculous story has ever been presented.

It's ridiculous crap from 1999 and pushed by anti-Microsoft bigots.

[guruoo]

19. Welcome to DU - n/t

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[originalpckelly]

25. A fairy tale this is not.

A patch there is to fix it, to change it. The good side of the force can be it used.

Wax Yoda do I.

[rman]

28. if an anonymous poster on a message board says it, it must be true

right?

[Nomad559]

29. Didn't you know?

Anything posted by a anti-Microsoft fanboy will get a free pass here on D.U.

:crazy:

[guruoo]

18. "...loophole could be turned round against the snoopers"

Interesting...

<snip>
'Fernandes said he believed the NSA's built-in loophole could be turned round against the snoopers. The NSA key inside CAPI could be replaced by your own key, and used to sign cryptographic security modules from overseas or unauthorized third parties, unapproved by Microsoft or the NSA. This is exactly what the U.S. government has been trying to prevent.

A demonstration "how to do it" program that replaces the NSA key can be found on Cryptonym's website.'
<snip>
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990903S0014

Link to "how to do it" file" (down):
http://www.cryptonym.com/hottopics/msft-nsa/ReplaceNsaKey.zip

Message on Cryptonym's homepage:
'Yes, this is the website of Cryptonym Corporation (of the "NSA Key" fame).
I hope to, sometime in the near future, put a brief explanation the whole
story online, so stay tuned...'
http://www.cryptonym.com/


On edit: cryptonym.com pages via Wayback machine:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/cryptonym.com/*
(you have to copy and paste this entire link into browser)

[nolabels]

23. Thanks for them story links

I could believe their would be that much bungling but also could believe it could be a red herring. With something this important or mendacious (depending what position you take)wouldn't it seem kind of stupid for anything as big a NSA (or any other set of spooks) to be putting all their eggs in one basket?

Just askin :shrug:

[Occulus]

22. And this is what happens when the source code is closed.

I have an idea: let's write a law requiring that any and all source code for each and every commercial software product either include the full source code on the disk, or available for free download.

"Oh! You can't do that!"

We, the people, can do any goddamn thing we please. We really, really need to get over the idea that corporations deserve rights...

[originalpckelly]

26. Quite frankly the source, while not in c++ is there...

it is in binary instructions for the processor.

[nolabels]

30. Corporations really really should be getting kicked in the privates

To say nothing of rights. In any other scenario, a group of people that conspire with contempt to deprive others of their livelihood and their belonging is a criminal enterprise. To say they have license for such pretty much stands everything on it's head.

[file83]

24. This is why many governments around the world have been crossing over

to Linux. It's open source and they know the NSA has no "backdoors" into the operating systems running their critical infrastructure.

[Pierre.Suave]

32. I think it is

riciculous to think that Linux is any safer.

[file83]

35. "Safer" how? If you are speaking of NSA "backdoors" - I can guarantee

there are none in that OS. Hundreds of thousands of computer programmers from all walks of life and every nation have written and examined the source code of Linux - if there was a "backdoor" in there, they'd know about it.

[drfresh]

27. I remember reading about this a few years ago

on Wired, I think. Guess I kind of forgot about it, or stopped caring so much. But it should go on the news again.

[robinlynne]

33. Now I love my mac even more.

[Stand and Fight]

34. This story has been debunked. n/t