M$ is watching you!

Ghost [PX] · Post by **Ghost [PX]** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:12 pm

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Feb/gee20030226018826.htm

Read it and see for yourself.

[Fallen]Thanatos · Post by **[Fallen]Thanatos** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:31 pm

I realy have nothing to hide.

[PX]IronFist · Post by **[PX]IronFist** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:36 pm

So are you saying you want MicroSoft to illegally scan your hard drive and store that information as a form of market research.

[Fallen]Thanatos · Post by **[Fallen]Thanatos** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:41 pm

No.

Im just saying that i have nothing to hide. Im not happy with what they are doing, dont get me wrong. This is not a good thing, what they are doing.

Untill I find a better OS to fit my needs then i will stick with windows.

Ghost [PX] · Post by **Ghost [PX]** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:45 pm

Therefore you condone it.

[Fallen]Thanatos · Post by **[Fallen]Thanatos** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:48 pm

No i still love windows.

Im not happy with all that windows does, i still love it.

Ghost [PX] · Post by **Ghost [PX]** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:50 pm

But because you do nothing to change or prevent said actions you condone it.

If you stand by and watch a theft a judge will convict you of accesory to the crime, since you are no less guilty for not trying to prevent the theft. This is no different.

[Fallen]Thanatos · Post by **[Fallen]Thanatos** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:53 pm

what if i dont update?

+

By you saing this.

Im the guy getting stolen from

So, if i rob a bank, kill all the people before they could trigger a alarm does that mean that its also there fault that the $ is gona?

Ghost [PX] · Post by **Ghost [PX]** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:56 pm

No, because you use the update system (Which you do, since it does it automatically) and dont do anything to change the fact that M$ illegally collects info from your computer, you are no better than someone who sits outside the bank during a robbery and watches for the police. You may not have stolen anything, but you are equally responsible.

[Fallen]Thanatos · Post by **[Fallen]Thanatos** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 3:57 pm

dude its not automatic. you have to tell it to do it.

Ghost [PX] · Post by **Ghost [PX]** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 4:08 pm

Actually no you dont. Windows update checks for updates and downloads them automatically. Regardless of whether you tell it to or not. I disabled it on my parents computer and it still does it.

[PX]Kal Bob · Post by **[PX]Kal Bob** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 4:10 pm

You have no pireted games? You paid 400+ dollars fro XP Pro? I think you have lots to hide!

[Fallen]Thanatos · Post by **[Fallen]Thanatos** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 4:12 pm

well thats stange, i always have to do it manualy.

THE JEW (RaVeN) · Post by **THE JEW (RaVeN)** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 7:09 pm

Now they're helping law enforcement agents quickly scan your computer:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/m ... law29.html

Microsoft has developed a small plug-in device that investigators can use to quickly extract forensic data from computers that may have been used in crimes.

The COFEE, which stands for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, is a USB "thumb drive" that was quietly distributed to a handful of law-enforcement agencies last June. Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith described its use to the 350 law-enforcement experts attending a company conference Monday.

The device contains 150 commands that can dramatically cut the time it takes to gather digital evidence, which is becoming more important in real-world crime, as well as cybercrime. It can decrypt passwords and analyze a computer's Internet activity, as well as data stored in the computer.

It also eliminates the need to seize a computer itself, which typically involves disconnecting from a network, turning off the power and potentially losing data. Instead, the investigator can scan for evidence on site.

More than 2,000 officers in 15 countries, including Poland, the Philippines, Germany, New Zealand and the United States, are using the device, which Microsoft provides free.

"These are things that we invest substantial resources in, but not from the perspective of selling to make money," Smith said in an interview. "We're doing this to help ensure that the Internet stays safe."

Law-enforcement officials from agencies in 35 countries are in Redmond this week to talk about how technology can help fight crime. Microsoft held a similar event in 2006. Discussions there led to the creation of COFEE.

Smith compared the Internet of today to London and other Industrial Revolution cities in the early 1800s. As people flocked from small communities where everyone knew each other, an anonymity emerged in the cities and a rise in crime followed.

The social aspects of Web 2.0 are like "new digital cities," Smith said. Publishers, interested in creating huge audiences to sell advertising, let people participate anonymously.

That's allowing "criminals to infiltrate the community, become part of the conversation and persuade people to part with personal information," Smith said.

Children are particularly at risk to anonymous predators or those with false identities. "Criminals seek to win a child's confidence in cyberspace and meet in real space," Smith cautioned.

Expertise and technology like COFEE are needed to investigate cybercrime, and, increasingly, real-world crimes.

advertising

"So many of our crimes today, just as our lives, involve the Internet and other digital evidence," said Lisa Johnson, who heads the Special Assault Unit in the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

A suspect's online activities can corroborate a crime or dispel an alibi, she said.

The 35 individual law-enforcement agencies in King County, for example, don't have the resources to investigate the explosion of digital evidence they seize, said Johnson, who attended the conference.

"They might even choose not to seize it because they don't know what to do with it," she said. "... We've kind of equated it to asking specific law-enforcement agencies to do their own DNA analysis. You can't possibly do that."

Johnson said the prosecutor's office, the Washington Attorney General's Office and Microsoft are working on a proposal to the Legislature to fund computer forensic crime labs.

Microsoft also got credit for other public-private partnerships around law enforcement.

Jean-Michel Louboutin, Interpol's executive director of police services, said only 10 of 50 African countries have dedicated cybercrime investigative units.

"The digital divide is no exaggeration," he told the conference. "Even in countries with dedicated cybercrime units, expertise is often too scarce."

He credited Microsoft for helping Interpol develop training materials and international databases used to prevent child abuse.

Smith acknowledged Microsoft's efforts are not purely altruistic. It benefits from selling collaboration software and other technology to law-enforcement agencies, just like everybody else, he said.

I wouldn't mind a copy of that USB key. Though, it would be funny if all they're providing are the tools from UBCD that I used to break the Indian computer logins.