Microsoft Denies NSA Backdoor in Windows 7

This is eyebrow-raising.

Microsoft denies it built ‘backdoor’ in Windows 7
Don’t worry, company tells users; NSA involved only in security compliance standards

November 19, 2009 (Computerworld) Microsoft today 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.”

Pardon me, but I find it VERRRRY hard to believe anything Microsoft OR the NSA has to say. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. It does not help that both companies resort to Newspeak, either: “enhance” the security guide?? Enhance, huh?

*bells and whistles*

The story goes on:

Microsoft’s rejection of the idea that it’s hidden a backdoor in Windows came as no surprise to security researchers, who yesterday expressed doubt that the company would put its reputation at such risk. “I can’t imagine NSA and Microsoft would do anything deliberate, because the repercussions would be enormous if they got caught,” Roger Thompson, the chief research officer of antivirus vendor AVG Technologies, said yesterday.

John Pescatore, an analyst with Gartner Research, agreed. “[The concerns] are way overstated,” he said today in an e-mail. “NSA worked with Microsoft and others, like Cisco, on security configuration standards for [their] products.”

Cisco, in fact, has built “lawful intercept” capabilities into its products, including its Internetworking Operating System (ISO) and its VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) lines. The term describes the process by which law enforcement agencies conduct electronic surveillance of circuit and packet-mode communications under authorization, such as electronic wiretap orders.

“Lawful intercept” capabilities, eh? What law? This is surveillance without probable cause. I’d like to know where in the Constitution it says government can monitor the activities of American citizens.

It’s getting crazy out there…