Finally, this attack provides yet another example of why the stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem. This is an emerging pattern in 2017. We have seen vulnerabilities stored by the CIA show up on WikiLeaks, and now this vulnerability stolen from the NSA has affected customers around the world. Repeatedly, exploits in the hands of governments have leaked into the public domain and caused widespread damage. An equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen. And this most recent attack represents a completely unintended but disconcerting link between the two most serious forms of cybersecurity threats in the world today – nation-state action and organized criminal action.
Archive | Microsoft
The backdoor problem
Microsoft has inadvertently demonstrated the intrinsic security problem of including a universal backdoor in its software after it accidentally leaked its so-called “golden key”—which allows users to unlock any device that’s supposedly protected by Secure Boot, such as phones and tablets.
Ars Technica: Secure Boot snafu: Microsoft leaks backdoor key, firmware flung wide open »
“Microsoft sues government for secret searches”
Microsoft filed a landmark lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday, taking a stand against the way federal agents routinely search its customers’ personal information in secret.
The company accuses the federal government of adopting a widespread, unconstitutional policy of looking through Microsoft customers’ data — and forcing the company to keep quiet about it, sometimes forever.