Fun and Games with Windows 8
From
PC World:
Is Windows 8 a Trojan horse for the NSA? The German Government thinks so
The German Government is now deeply suspicious that the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) technology built into a growing number of Windows 8 PCs and tablets is creating a gigantic back door for NSA surveillance, leaked documents have suggested.
Documents from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs obtained by German title Zeit Online uncover the alleged unease of officials at the direction of version 2.0 of the standard being developed under the auspices of the multi-vendor Trusted Computing Group (TCG).
TPM has been marketed as a security technology since its appearance in 2006, but version 2.0 would embed a chip on every PC that has complete control over which programs can and can�t run, a setting that can�t be over-ridden under Windows 8. The chip is also where the cryptographic data is stored for Windows BitLocker and it enables remote administration.
Windows 8 security going forward will be founded on TPM 2.0 and the ability to access or break it would be of huge value to any intelligence service.
Emphasis mine. More reason to move to Linux and to keep using older machines and technologies for as long as possible. I bet some enterprising hacker is looking at ways to block this chip. I do not want my computer telling me what I can and cannot run...
Posted by DaveH at August 25, 2013 5:00 PM