Latest Leak Shows Microsoft Handed The NSA And FBI Unencrypted Access To Outlook, SkyDrive And Skype

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the <strike>MS</strike>-US-Internet-Explorer-10,-now-available-for-download! dept

Microsoft has painted a picture that its relationship with the NSA and FBI isn’t a cozy one, but one based on forced compliance. The company has recently been taking shots at Google with its “Scroogled” campaign, claiming it kept users’ data more secure. Then news surfaced that Microsoft was providing intelligence agencies with zero-day exploits for deployment by the agencies before getting around to patching them, leading to questions as to its expressed concern for its customers.

The latest leak released by the Guardian paints the company as a willing “team player” working closely with the FBI and NSA to allow unfettered access to the data of its customers.

Microsoft has collaborated closely with US intelligence services to allow users’ communications to be intercepted, including helping the National Security Agency to circumvent the company’s own encryption, according to top-secret documents obtained by the Guardian.

The documents show that:

• Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal;

• The agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com, including Hotmail;

• The company worked with the FBI this year to allow the NSA easier access via Prism to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which now has more than 250 million users worldwide;

• Microsoft also worked with the FBI’s Data Intercept Unit to “understand” potential issues with a feature in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases;

• Skype, which was bought by Microsoft in October 2011, worked with intelligence agencies last year to allow Prism to collect video of conversations as well as audio;

• Material collected through Prism is routinely shared with the FBI and CIA, with one NSA document describing the program as a “team sport”.

This damaging set of documents indicates that Microsoft talks a pretty good game when it comes to privacy, but the protection it actually offers is less than skin deep.

Microsoft’s latest marketing campaign, launched in April, emphasizes its commitment to privacy with the slogan: “Your privacy is our priority.”

Similarly, Skype’s privacy policy states: “Skype is committed to respecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal data, traffic data and communications content.”

Microsoft’s actions say otherwise. Skype alone gives the NSA and FBI access to over 600 million users worldwide despite Skype’s earlier claims that these calls couldn’t be tapped.

Microsoft has responded to this leak with a statement claiming its actions are above-board and completely legal. The NSA released a statement as well, claiming, as Microsoft does, that everything detailed is fully compliant with applicable laws. As usual, the NSA statement makes reference to “strict oversight” and “careful monitoring,” empty phrases its deployed before that are ultimately meaningless without any corresponding transparency.

Again, speaking to the “legality” of these actions is nothing more than self-serving rhetoric. As has been expressed before, the real scandal isn’t that large-scale surveillance is happening. It’s that it’s legal. Secret courts issuing secret interpretations that companies like Microsoft are compelled to comply with. Microsoft may say it “rejects” demands that it doesn’t deem “valid,” but does anyone not think these rejections aren’t simply overridden?

There are ways to comply with government requests which don’t take the form of working closely with intelligence agencies to undercut the same privacy you’re telling the public you’re so interested in protecting. (Maybe ask Twitter for some advice…) Giving intelligence carte blanche access to data pre-encryption doesn’t sound like the actions of a company that regularly challenges government requests. It sounds more like the compliance of a company who’d rather not jeopardize OS sales and support to one of its biggest customers.

Filed Under: encryption, nsa surveillance, pre-encryption access, prism, surveillance
Companies: microsoft, skype