The leaked documents advised that Windows 7 is still safe to use, at least until 2020. The Register previously described Trusted Computing as the "widely derided idea of computing secured for, and against, its users".
This results in new risks for the user, especially for the federal government and critical infrastructure." "From the perspective of the BSI, the use of Windows 8 in combination with a TPM 2.0 is accompanied by a loss of control over the operating system and the hardware used. Once this is rolled out across all Windows-using PCS, the Germans fear, there will be "simply no way to tell what exactly Microsoft does to its system through remote updates". Trusted Platform Module 2.0 is considerably more invasive than older versions.
As Redmond is a US firm, opponents to the protocols argue, users' data is theoretically accessible to US spooks in the National Security Agency via the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as Die Zeit points out. It also identifies the machine to the vendor, meaning that users' identities can be linked to their machines as well as their online activities. The set of permissions is automatically updated online, outside of the control of the user.Ī machine that contains a Trusted Platform Module and runs software adhering to the Trusted Computing specifications is, arguably, under the control of the vendor – in this case Microsoft. Microsoft argues that Secure Boot protects users from rootkits and other malware attacks. The tech is designed to stop the use of software and files which do not contain the correct digital rights permissions (thus protecting the property of vendors behind the protocols), including "unauthorised operating systems" (a specific function of the much-maligned Secure Boot). BSI released a statement that backtracked slightly, insisting that using Windows 8 in combination with a TPM may make a system safer, but noting that it is investigating "some critical aspects related to specific scenarios in which Windows 8 is operated in combination with a hardware that has a TPM 2.0".
Microsoft's new touchy Windows 8 operating system is so vulnerable to prying hackers that Germany's businesses and government should not use it, the country's authorities have warned in a series of leaked documents.Īccording to files published in German weekly Die Zeit, the Euro nation's officials fear Germans' data is not secure thanks to the OS's Trusted Computing technology – a set of specifications and protocols that relies on every computer having a unique cryptographic key built into the hardware that's used to dictate what software can be run.Īuthorities at Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) later clarified that it was the Trusted Computing specs in Windows 8 in conjunction with the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip embedded in the hardware that creates the alleged security issue.
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