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Bundeswehr Says Microsoft Software Verboten
deran9ed writes: "The German foreign office and Bundeswehr are pulling the plugs on Microsoft software, citing security concerns, according to the German news magazine Der Spiegel. Spiegel claims that German security authorities suspect that the US National Security Agency (NSA) has 'back door' access to Microsoft source code, and can therefore easily read the Federal Republic's deepest secrets. Article in German, English article"
The NSA sure stays busy, what with putting backdoors in Windows and securing Linux.
Next thing you know we'll have a Congressional panel on why the NSA is being so... um... un-American.
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There isn't anything *but* Microsoft software, if you think about it; with 95+% of the desktop market, even if it isn't made in Redmond, its written for their products.
Besides, that German company may very well be SuSE...
ZOMG I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS ON MACINTOSH VERSUS WINDOWS, VI VERSUS EMACS, AND HOW YOU'RE NOT A DORK
Oh, yeah? Read this.
Perhaps you should stop relying on the German news agencies for coverage of German government excesses.
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I would bet that it is buildable. But see Reflections on Trusting Trust.
That paper applies to GCC too, of course.
...the US secret service has a documented history of using its snooping on its allies, mostly for the benefit of US businesses.
A former CIA director explained that this is done for moral reasons, but his article sounds awfully bigot to me...
It should be expected that Echelon and similar technology that the NSA has access to will be used in a similar manner.
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You may like my a cappella music
[Everything in brackets is my comment. I am German.]
1 70,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/politik/0,1518,123
Enemy Software
German Army bans Microsoft Software
In fear of US secret services, the German foreign ministry and the German army are planning to close security holes. Instead of American software, federal computers will run German software in the future. [German software? There is no German operating system that I know of. DPA has a competent staff of tech writers, but I doubt they got this right.]
Original article by Deutsche Presse Agentur [an independent, but huge commercial German press agency].
(Image caption: In danger of spies - the German army shoots against Microsoft.)
Computers that are used in security-sensitive areas shall not run Microsoft software anymore. According to German government security advisors, the American secret service NSA has full access to the complete source codes of the US company and is thus able to read even encrypted [Microsoft] files. Because of this, the German ministry of defense uses encryption technologies offered by the local companies Siemens and Telekom [the formerly state-owned, now largest telephone and internet provider].
Meanwhile, the ministry of foreign affairs has halted plans to use video conference technology to communicate with their embassadors and foreign offices. During a Telekom presentation in Berlin at the beginning of March, State Secretary Gunter Pleuger was informed that for technical reasons, every satellite transmission is routed to the American city Denver, Coloroda.
Pleuger thinks the detour to the USA is a security risk. "Then we could do our conferences in Langley right from the start" joked a staffer of the Pleuger office. Langley, Virgina, is the location of the US secret service CIA.
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You may like my a cappella music
No, no "backdoors" in software means that the author, publisher, NSA, etc. can get in while you think the software is secure.
Outlook, on the other hand, is not a backdoor, it tends to "backdoor" the user. This is using "backdoor" as a verb, in the sense of prisons, or porn put out by Seymour Butts.
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"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
I'm sure the german government could get one, however it is most likely there are some anti-ms people in the german security/computer organizations, and they feel that this is the best way to get around it.
If it is possible to utilize a backdoor, then it is just as possible to use the latest exploit, and they would be better off hiring decent admins.
Hiding hole built into as much software as microsoft has shipped is not trivial.
Its also possible that the german government wants to stimulate its software industry, the US has had policies like this for many years to give american companies advantages.
The first reason could give linux a chance, but the second would most likely be a proprietary solution.
I believe that they can't simply bar American software for various trade legalities. So they need to use "security concerns" as a cover to justify this. It doesn't mean that MS has backdoors in its code; rather the *rumor* that such things exist is the perfect reason for the German's to use software from their country.
Last night I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.
From the NSA web site:
The National Security Council, a group of appointed senior officials, assists the President in formulating foreign policy and intelligence priorities. The Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) directs and coordinates the diverse activities of all the U.S. intelligence organizations. The IC has representation from many intelligence agencies, including intelligence functions in the DoD, Departments of Justice, Treasury, Energy, and State, and the CIA. While not a military organization, NSA is one of several elements of the IC administered by the DoD."Then came the Holy One, blessed be He, and slew the angel of death, that killed the shohet that slaughtered the ox that drank the water that quenched the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate the goat my father bought for two zuzim."
What like Outlook? :)
Let's not forget the whole NSA backdoor key in Win2k debacle. There were, of course, reports from Microsoft denying that this was a key for the NSA. There is, at least, sufficient doubt to make it impossible to rule out the presence of a delibrate NSA backdoor.
Even if that weren't enough, one could argue that such a backdoor, if found, might be (or possibly has already been) classified as a bug instead of a backdoor.
You think that if the government had access to Microsoft's software then they'd have a stronger case against them...
--The space between my ears was intentionally left blank--
If anyone bothers to read the article, it states that Germany isn't going to use ANY American or foreign software in its most highly secured areas. Why the hell did timothy feel the need to specifically cite only Microsoft software?
:)
In case you were thinking that this is somehow a "win" (whatever that is) for Linux, think again: They are going to home-grow their secure solutions using a German software company.
This is the same thing our United States military does. They contract with American-owned companies for custom software solutions (like the recent Windows Datacenter custom system for running Battleships and aircraft carriers, or the NSA's development work on a secure Linux system.)
Can't Slashdot just stop focusing on Microsoft for even one minute? Please?
Oh well.... life goes on
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-- russ
"You want people to think logically? ACK! Turn in your UID, you traitor!"
Natural != (nontoxic || beneficial)
besides... last uname -a I did showed FreeBSD
360 degrees of Karma
Siemens is a mega corporation, so its going to be neat to see how this plays out on other European countries using Microsoft based products, as well as the governments of Germany and America's trust in each other (remember with a company like Siemens, its not like its a mom and pop company ranting off.) Germany is a very powerful force within the European Union as well so chances of this rubbing off into other countries will likely take place in the not-to-distant future.
Another oddity is why would they just come out of the blue and state these transmissions are going to Denver? Out of all the places (for a conspiracy theorist to mention) in the US Denver and not someplace like Washington. Well here are the only places I know offhand capable of capturing, sorting info in the Colorado area along with respective information: ITS, NSA orders (keep in mind these are publicly accessible websites and known locations)
I wonder if MS would comment on this article or will they ignore it. This isn't the first time MS has been accused of having backdoored software.
(In fact here ya go enjoy... gov doc a, gov doc b, Slashdot's prior MS/Backdoor article)
Also its not the first time someone in the European Union has accused the United States of odd actions involving espionage. There was also something along the lines of ECHELON being by the U.S. used to promote industrial espionage in order to beat the EU to a large (billions of dollar large) aerospace deal with Saudi Arabia.
Anyways...
Well here's the babelfishified version of the German article:
crummy translation...
vroom vroom
360 degrees of Karma