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Microsoft Denies It Built Backdoor Into Windows 7

CWmike writes "Microsoft has denied that it has built a backdoor into Windows 7, a concern that surfaced yesterday after a senior National Security Agency (NSA) official testified before Congress that the agency had worked on the operating system. 'Microsoft has not and will not put "backdoors" into Windows,' a company spokeswoman said, reacting to a Computerworld story Wednesday. On Monday, Richard Schaeffer, the NSA's information assurance director, told the Senate's Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security that the agency had partnered with the developer during the creation of Windows 7 'to enhance Microsoft's operating system security guide.' Thursday's categorical denial by Microsoft was accompanied by further explanation of exactly how the NSA participated in the making of Windows 7. 'The work being discussed here is purely in conjunction with our Security Compliance Management Toolkit,' said the spokeswoman. The company rolled out the Windows 7 version of the toolkit late last month, shortly after it officially launched the operating system."

35 of 450 comments (clear)

  1. I have no problem believing MS this time... by beh · · Score: 4, Funny

    I believe Microsoft anytime that they would not build back doors into the system... If they tried, the backdoor would probably have enough bugs to be unusable.

    Besides - doesn't it already state it in the story:

        "Microsoft has not and will not put "backdoors" into Windows"

        "the agency had worked on the operating system."

    Seems pretty clear, MS did NOT put a backdoor into it... ;-)

    1. Re:I have no problem believing MS this time... by Wowsers · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why would Microsoft build a back door into Win7, when the front door is so wide open?

      --
      Take Nobody's Word For It.
    2. Re:I have no problem believing MS this time... by rkulla · · Score: 5, Funny

      and it wouldn't work with the "Home" version of Windows, since nothing special ever does.

    3. Re:I have no problem believing MS this time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Why would Microsoft build a back door when there are windows ?

    4. Re:I have no problem believing MS this time... by RazzleDazzle · · Score: 3, Funny
      --
      ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ONE! Just brushing up for my next big invention: Ethernet over Voice (EoV)
    5. Re:I have no problem believing MS this time... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      I like Beck but he does act goofy sometimes.

      His album "Sea Change" is really great.

      Or do you mean the other Beck, the one who's got the TV show and the crying and the blackboard and who is the spiritual leader of all US conservatives?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:I have no problem believing MS this time... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

      Because that's the procedure, dammit! This is the government, we follow a procedure! That's why we have three-coat toilet paper, we need 2 copies of every crap!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:I have no problem believing MS this time... by Aczlan · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why would they need a back door? Windows? Get it? Access is already implied...

      Sorry, to get Access you need to purchase it separately. It does not come free with Windows.

      Aaron Z

      --
      "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote
    8. Re:I have no problem believing MS this time... by spongman · · Score: 2, Funny

      The man does nothing but stir up fear with lies.

      Hi, welcome to slashdot!

  2. Well.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    At least, not intentionally.

  3. With props to Bill Cosby by Fishbulb · · Score: 4, Funny

    God: "NOAH!"

    Noah: "What!"

    God: "Noah, I did not put a backdoor in Windows 7."

    Noah: "[...] RIGHT."

  4. Re:Well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is true. However, I plan to register microsoftrapedandkilledandembeddedinwindows7ayounggirlin2009.com because they haven't denied that they have not.

  5. I Tried to Interview Microsoft About This by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Funny
    I asked them if they had put any backdoors in Windows 7 and the representative said loudly and nervously that that was preposterous and 'patently false' while scribbling something on a piece of paper. He slid it across his desk to me. It read:

    Please, they have microphones in my clothes, on the desk, in the walls, the fly buzzing by your mouth is their robot!!! Meet me by the dumpster out back around 5pm, come alone.

    Unfortunately I have a bad habit of reading things aloud when I read them and by the time I was finished the fly was gone and the man sitting across from me was dead. The government doctor that rushed in the room and gave him pentobarbital in an attempt to revive him said it was due to an aneurysm caused by a robotic fly which he says he sees a lot of so it's nothing for me to look into.

    I guess there's no story here after all.

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:I Tried to Interview Microsoft About This by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Funny
      That story is patently absurd.

      I asked them if they had put any backdoors in Windows 7 and the representative said loudly and nervously that that was preposterous and 'patently false' while scribbling something on a piece of paper.

      MS marketing reps can't write.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    2. Re:I Tried to Interview Microsoft About This by CannonballHead · · Score: 3, Funny

      That story is patently absurd.

      Whatever. You're just a patent troll.

    3. Re:I Tried to Interview Microsoft About This by fermion · · Score: 3, Funny

      no rumor is officially true until it is officially denied.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
  6. Re:Really people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    The back door is usually considered "taboo" and therefore makes people feel like they're "bad-ass" (no pun intended). Plus, it's usually more pleasuring.

  7. I'm the NSA... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    and Windows 7 was my idea.

    1. Re:I'm the NSA... by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Funny

      and Windows 7 was my idea.

      John Hodgman: "Hi, I'm a PC."
      *silence*
      John Hodgman: "Oh, and Mac couldn't be here today because Windows 7 fiddled with his brakes. So ... I guess you know who to choose."

      --
      My work here is dung.
  8. They should use this as a selling point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Might appeal to many Mac users.

  9. Re:Microsoft didn't make any backdoors by John+Hasler · · Score: 2, Funny

    > The NSA, CIA or FBI made the backdoor. And then forced Microsoft to include
    > it in the final build of the OS.

    In that case it might actually work.

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  10. Who needs a back door? by David+Gerard · · Score: 5, Funny

    Despite many years’ warnings that Microsoft regards security as a marketing problem and has only ever done the absolute minimum it can get away with, millions of users who click on any rubbish they see in the hope of pictures of female tennis stars having wardrobe malfunctions still fail to believe that taking Windows out on the Internet is like standing bent over in the street in downtown Gomorrah, naked, arse greased up and carrying a flashing neon sign saying “COME AND GET IT.”

    Microsoft cannot believe people have not applied the patch for the problems, just because they keep trying to use Windows Genuine Advantage to break legally-bought systems. “Don’t they trust us?” asked marketing marketer Steve Ballmer.

    Millions of smug Mac users and the four hundred smug Linux users pointed and laughed, having long given up trying to convince their Windows-using friends to see sense. “There’s a reason the Unix system on Mac OS X is called Darwin,” said appallingly smug Mac user Arty Phagge.

    “It can’t be stupid if everyone else runs it,” said Windows user Joe Beleaguered, who had lost all his email, business files, MP3s and porn again. “Macs cost more than Windows PCs.”

    “Yes,” said Phagge. “Yes, they do.”

    Ubuntu Linux developer Hiram Nerdboy frantically tried to get our attention about something or other, but we can’t say we care.

    --
    http://rocknerd.co.uk
    1. Re:Who needs a back door? by notarockstar1979 · · Score: 4, Funny

      What about all three of the BSD users?

  11. This is silly by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Funny

    Of course you can trust the government. I mean, this is the NSA we're talking about. They're on YOUR side.

          And as for Microsoft, or any other multinational company for that matter, they have grown to the size that they are because they are 100% honest to goodness hard working souls that, when faced with a decision, will always take the ethically correct side. I mean that's how you get fantastically rich, isn't it? Ask our hard working friends at Goldman Sachs, for example!

          I'm shocked that you could even consider that Microsoft could be lying. I mean, what happens if they get caught lying? Surely the "back door" would be right there in the source code for all to see, and they'd be found out right away. Oh, wait... sorry, you don't get to see the source code. But Microsoft apologized for violating the GPL, that makes them GOOD guys. You're not suggesting that if anyone ever DID find out some sort of way to control a Windows machine, all they'd have to do is call it a "security vulnerability" and issue a patch (with a different back door) for it, are you?

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  12. Re:Not really necessary by sexconker · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, this.

    And if they had smuggled something into it, the testimony before Congress would have been sealed. The fact we know about it without some kind of secret leak means that we can be confident the NSA did not think the disclosure was valuable intel.

    WHAT DO YOU KNOW AND WHERE IS MY TINFOIL HAT?

  13. Re:Really people by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, Funny

    >>>Who needs a back door when the front door is wide open?

    "That's what she said!"

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  14. Re:Not really necessary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The agents were supposed to finish bugging your hat and have it returned by now. I'll look into it.

  15. Oh sure, there's a back door in Windows 7 by twoears · · Score: 3, Funny

    But it's only in the goatse edition.

  16. Re:Really people by peragrin · · Score: 3, Funny

    along with the proper medical staff and defensive systems.

    --
    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
  17. Joshua by slagheap · · Score: 3, Funny

    Mr. Potato Head! Mr. Potato Head! Back doors are not secrets!

    --
    First against the wall when the revolution comes
  18. A better "I'm a Mac" ad... by nokiator · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Hi, I'm a Mac"

    "Hi, I'm a PC"

    and then the NSA guy with the latex glove enters the scene...

  19. Re:Really people by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 4, Funny

    They cancel each other out. So it is a positive.

    Right?

  20. Re:Really people by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Funny

    >>>Who needs a back door when the front door is wide open?

    "That's what she said!"

    This is /. minimal sucess and experience with either.

    Thanks. I WAS having a good day; now I'm depressed.

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  21. Re:On the other hand... by KaoticEvil · · Score: 1, Funny

    Now come on.. 500 exploits in the first year? Do you really think it will take long to find 500 exploits? heh

    --
    You can close your eyes to reality but not to memories.
  22. Backdoor actually found! by Ivan+Stepaniuk · · Score: 2, Funny

    It is called Windows Update. MS can craft a special update for a determinate IP range and destroy any country's economy.

    --
    My other signature is a car