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UK Wants Backdoor Into Windows
John Stith
Staff Writer
2006-02-16
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The UK wants in through the backdoor of Windows and they're negotiating with Microsoft over it. The logic from the UK is the new Windows: Vista will make it more difficult for police to peruse suspects' computer files.
According to the BBC, the notion started with a Cambridge professor telling members of Parliament many more files would be encrypted on the average computer and the government should look into get a backdoor key for Vista.
Professor Ross Anderson was testifying before Parliament and said the tough encryption and its features were designed to help against the downloading of copyrighted material. The BBC quoted him saying, "An unfortunate side effect from law enforcement is it would be technically fairly seriously difficult to dig encrypted material out of the system if it has been set up competently."
There is an inherent problem with this and that's the privacy issues involved here. Microsoft said Windows: Vista will be the most secure version they've ever done but they are working with governments to help them understand it all. The problem with allowing the government into computers is that they cannot protect their own information. How would they be able to protect anyone else's?
Consider British Parliament computers were recently hacked into. While they were fairly secure, it's only a matter of time before someone does get in. While this key would allow authorities to explore individual computers for information, who's to say it couldn't be set up to monitor other things? What's stopping various officers investigating from taking valuable information like credit card numbers, particularly if the investigation turns up nothing?
While this is the UK, one must assume similar negotiations are being done with the U.S. and other countries. How can citizens expect basic protections when these organizations repeatedly demonstrate they cannot defend against various external threats? It's a subject that warrants a lot more consideration.
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About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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