Microsoft Denies Windows 7 Has NSA Backdoor

No backdoor action for Windows 7, assures Microsoft.

Zoom

Earlier this week we learned that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been working with Microsoft to improve the security measures of Windows 7.


"Working in partnership with Microsoft and (the Department of Defense), NSA leveraged our unique expertise and operational knowledge of system threats and vulnerabilities to enhance Microsoft's operating system security guide without constraining the user's ability to perform their everyday tasks," said Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's Information Assurance Director. "All this was done in coordination with the product release, not months or years later in the product cycle."


This cooperation by the two bodies led some to theorize that the NSA and Microsoft may have somehow built a backdoor into Windows 7.


Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of the Electronics Privacy Information Center (EPIC), expressed his concern as the NSA has an interest in surveillance as as a part of its efforts in security.


"The key problem is that NSA has a dual mission, COMPUSEC, computer security, now called cyber security, and SIGINT, signals intelligence, in other words surveillance," Rotenberg said in an e-mail.


ZoomMicrosoft quickly responded to such concerns.


"Microsoft has not and will not put 'backdoors' into Windows," a company spokeswoman said to Computerworld. "The work being discussed here is purely in conjunction with our Security Compliance Management Toolkit."


Of course, that's the expected response and conspiracy theorists won't likely be set easy with just that statement.


"The key point is that the NSA is not the right agency to promote computer security in the private sector," Rotenberg argued. "The risks to end users are real -- the original NSA key escrow proposal, 'Clipper,' was a terrible idea -- and there is too little transparency about these arrangements."

tomshardware

Hmmm, this sounds kind of odd since I don't know who to believe since MS has not been honest in the past like saying "Vista is an awesome OS" and I'm not American, so I don't know much about the NSA reputation for telling the truth.

Plus, if there is an NSA back door, it would be kind of worrying since if a skillerd hacker got the backdoor info, he can hack any 7 computer he waneted easier.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Google Chrome OS UI Concept Video

Google Chrome OS is an open source operating system for people who spend most of their time on the web built around the core tenets of speed, simplicity and security. http://www.chromium.org
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Do you care about how your Operating System looks and the bells and whistles?

I don't really care, so I usually turn off all the unneeded programs like Aeroglass, Windows Sidebar, Services I don't use, and all those annoying system sounds. I just play with them for a minute or two, and get bored.

Plus, I notice that the Aero Taskbar seem to take up a little more screen space then the Classic Gray theme from Windows 95-2000, so I tend to enjoy using the classic themes, so I don't have to scroll as much reading web pages.

Plus, my PC seems more fast when I turn off all the bells and whistles which I don't use or like. For example, Windows Animation, and Aero.

I spend most of my time on a web browser, or in a game, so I'm more concerned about how my programs look and feel.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Teen Jailed for "Denial of Service" attack against Church of Scientology

A teen is going to prison for participating in a DDoS attack against the Church of Scientology website.

Zoom
New Jersey Online reports that 19-year-old Dmitriy Guzner was sentenced to a year and a day in a federal prison after pleading guilty to a DDoS attack against the Church of Scientology website. The Verona man pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized impairment of a protected computer back in May 2009, admitting his participation in the attack against the website.

“This is not just the goofy endeavor of a teenager,” said Judge Joseph A. Greenaway this morning in the U.S. district Court in Newark. “I don’t believe this is something that just came upon Mr. Guzner... I don’t believe a young person gets involved in this act on a lark just because he’s surfing the Internet.”

The Church of Scientology website went down for 24 hours back in 2008 as a result of a DDoS attack. Although the group Anonymous claimed itself responsible for the attack, Guzner said he was not a part of the group. However, he did admit that Anonymous wanted to "pull a prank." Unfortunately, Guzner didn't realize the full seriousness of the planned attack at that time.

In addition to the one year (and a day, go figure) prison sentence ordered today, Greenway also ordered the teen to serve two years of probation and to pay a $37,500 restitution fine to the church. The Church of Scientology originally demanded $119,000 to help pay for the website's new security measures, however the judge dismissed the motion and chose to accept Guzner's plea.

Tom's Guide

I'm guesing the church of Scientology is not very forgiving. Sucks that he is being sent to Federal Prison which is probably a lot worse then city Jail, but I don't know I don't live in the states.

The moral of this story is "Don't mess with Scientology, or Tom Cruise's Church."

The Boy did not deserve the extra day in jail. 1 year and paying 37K is worst enough.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Google Phone Possible for 2010

A custom-built Android phone from Google is now rumored to be making an appearance in 2010. Tech Crunch reports that it's no myth, but in fact the real deal. There's talk that the upcoming device might be a project similar to Apple and its iPhone, where Google controls all aspects of hardware and software without compromise.

According to the site, Google will in fact build its own branded phone and sell it directly and through retailers. Originally the device was planned to arrive before the holidays. However now the phone has slipped back into sometime early (Q1?) 2010. The phone will be built externally by a known mobile phone manufacturer, however Google's name will be what appears on the shell.

Unfortunately, that's all the "confirmed" news. Tech Crunch goes into detail about the "unconfirmed" stuff it's received, such as Taiwanese company HTC actually building the phone. There's also mention that LG or Samsung may be handing the manufacturing aspect, but Samsung may be out thanks to its ties with Apple's iPhone. Fingers are pointing to Korea as the "birthplace" of Google's phone however.

Sources have indicated that Google will begin promotions around January 2010. Of course, nothing official has been released, nor have we seen any kind of internal PDF or screenshot showing that the Google device exists. With the latest android smartphones taking off so quickly however, a dedicated Google phone isn't unlikely whatsoever.

Tom's Guide

Interesting, I might onsider a Google phone if I am looking for a high end phone.