Posted on 01/11/2007 1:47:57 PM PST by bigdcaldavis
THE USA GOVERNMENT'S cryptologic organisation, the National Security Agency, has admitted that it is behind some of the security changes to Microsoft's operating system Vista.
According to the Washington Post, the agency which was once so secret that it was jokingly referred to as 'No such Agency' has admitted making 'unspecified contributions' to Vista.
Tony Sager, the NSA's chief of vulnerability analysis and operations group, told the Post that it was the agency's intention to help everyone these days.
The NSA used a red and a blue team to pull apart the software. The red team posed as "the determined, technically competent adversary" to disrupt, corrupt or steal information. The Blue team helped Defense Department system administrators with Vista's configuration.
Vole said that it has sought help from the NSA over the last four years. Apparently its skills can be seen in the Windows XP consumer version and the Windows Server 2003 for corporate customers.
The assistance is at the US taxpayers' expense, although the NSA says it all makes perfect sense. Not only is the NSA protecting United States business, its own Defense Department uses VoleWare so it is in the government's interest to make sure it is as secure as possible.
Microsoft is not the only one to tap the spooks. Apple, with its Mac OSX operating system, and Novell with its SUSE Linux also asked the NSA what it thought of their products. The NSA is quite good at finding weapons of mass destruction that are not there.
backdoors installed so 'fixes' won't muck them up later on
Consider the source.
What's that last line all about?
"The NSA is quite good at finding weapons of mass destruction that are not there."
Huh?
Regards,
Star Traveler
There's No Such Agency.
If the Red team didn't have an endless supply of hot pockets, they surely missed something.
You said -- "There's No Such Agency."
Ahhh..., you mean "No Such Agency" finding "No Such Weapons"....
:-0
Regards,
Star Traveler
If the NSA really contributed to Vista's security, it was most likely in the form of a "backdoor" to allow them to come in and look around any time they want.
Another good reason to switch to UBUNTU!
Removing the tin hat, it's more likely that the government was involved in order to hasten certification for Vista's use within the government. In general, it should result in a more secure system. Remember, the NSA isn't just the spooks, but the guys mostly responsible for setting the standards for computer security in the government.
Many years ago, my dad was stationed overseas with the State Department in Asia. One of his lodge buddies in Tokyo was with the NSA. Anytime anyone would ask about the NSA, he would answer "...there is No Such Agency."
That must have gotten annoying real quick.
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