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Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

reuters.com

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Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#191

Post by talldayo »

coldtea wrote: post #131
simonw wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a very cynical take. I've not seen anything to make me think this feature is intended for surveillance as opposed to personal utility. The personal utility benefits are very clear to me - the problem is the ease with which malicious attackers might steal the data (if they can breach the system).

> This is a very cynical take. But also very correct. > I've not seen anything to make me think this feature is intended for surveillance as opposed to personal utility. Now that's a very naive take. They already use tons of telemetry to profie you for ads, snitch about you to your boss, share with partners, and so on, and only growing on that front. Plus all the cooperation they do with their favorite government.

But I pay for Windows! Surely, the existence of a preeminent financial contract with my benefactor means they would never sell me downriver to a suspicious partner. At least, that's the rationale I seem to hear these days from people that pay extra for peace-of-mind.

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#192

Post by Rinzler89 »

alt227 wrote: post #186
resource_waste wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lets be honest, if Apple did it, it would be hailed revolutionary. Different customer base.

To enforce your point, rewind.ai has been doing it on mac for a while now and I havent seen anything but good reports about it. https://www.rewind.ai/

I'm not sure how I feel about a product whose page still says ©2023

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#193

Post by ARandumGuy »

JonathanMerklin wrote: post #106
jcfrei wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not quite true: The other huge group of customers is simply gamers.

Genuinely asking: is that huge in terms of their install base or revenue, or is that huge in terms of PR ramifications (like, "vocal minority" type of deal)? In my younger days I'd've had a heavily skewed pro-gamer and pro-authority-of-the-gamer-rabble viewpoint, but now at this phase of my life I can't help but feel the majority of the places I see Windows are all in business and education contexts (so just business…

Steam has a daily peak userbase of around 33 million users[1]. I haven't been able to find a recent monthly user count, but it's certainly a lot of users. The Steam hardware survey reports over 96% of surveyed users use Windows[2].

Now, we can't say for sure how many of these users primarily use their PC for gaming. But it's probably a lot of them. PC gaming is huge, and it's one of the few areas where a general consumer actually needs a PC, and can't use a phone or tablet.

[1]: https://store.steampowered.com/charts/

[2]: https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Softw...

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#194

Post by MeetingsBrowser »

jahewson wrote: post #180
999900000999 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you can't afford a Mac, and you're not technically literate enough to install Ubuntu ? Speaking for myself, I dual boot mint and windows because I really like playing games and making music. Both of those are absolutely subpar on Linux. Outside of our nerd bubble, most normal people don't really want to run desktop Linux. Macs are great, but I can't really game on them.

What is this laptop that costs less than a Mac but is good for gaming?

A desktop, lol

Most people playing games or on a desktop, not a laptop.

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#195

Post by jrflowers »

I love all of the “I see how this could be useful software. I’d maybe use it!” comments.

Since this functionality can pretty much be replicated with OBS Studio + a keylogger I would love to know what keylogger/screen recorder software combo everybody is already running on their own machines

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#196

Post by sneak »

simonw wrote: post #90
segasaturn wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My takeaway is that Microsoft has been trying to boil the frog, but slipped and turned the temperature up too quickly. They're retreating for now, but make no mistake that Recall will slowly trickle back into Windows under another name. Every major power broker wants something like Recall to become the norm - bosses to spy on their employees, governments to spy on their citizens/enemies, and tech CEO's to collect tra…

This is a very cynical take. I've not seen anything to make me think this feature is intended for surveillance as opposed to personal utility. The personal utility benefits are very clear to me - the problem is the ease with which malicious attackers might steal the data (if they can breach the system).

iMessage and iCloud weren’t designed for surveillance, but they allow the FBI to read basically every text and image sent to or from every iPhone without probable cause or a warrant.

Something doesn’t need to be designed with the intent to surveil to be used by the state for that purpose.

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#198

Post by pjmlp »

consumer451 wrote: post #179
pjmlp wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same way as .NET FOSS, MS <3 Linux and such happened, by having a captain on the bridge that actually cares to make it happen, not sure if that is still Satya though.

If I understand the modern security issues correctly, this is all happening on Azure, correct? Windows is relatively secure, but their cloud has too much legacy compatibility/tech debt? For example, Kerberos support in Azure AD led to the some of the latest issues?

On the contrary, Azure has a much better security culture than Windows business unit.

Most stuff is built with .NET, Go, Java and Rust, while the hypervisors are based on Windows (Azure Host OS[0]) it isn't the same as regular Windows, and most workloads are Linux based, officially > 60% [1].

Finally, starting this year, Azure has new security guidelines, all new software is to be written in managed languages, if a GC is not an impediment, Rust otherwise.

Writing code in either C or C++, is only allowed for existing products, with the related security guidelines in place[2].

[0] - https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-os-platform-b...

[1] - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/virtual-machines/...

[2] - https://x.com/dwizzzleMSFT/status/1720134540822520268

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#199

Post by pjmlp »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #166
consumer451 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My personal feelings aside, Microsoft is Too Big to Suck like this, regarding security and privacy. At this point, their culture is a national security liability. We have seen some recent efforts, but how does one right such a large ship? https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/14/brad_smith_microsoft_... https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/3/24119787/microsoft-cloud-e...

Put DevDiv’s bosses in charge of WinDev.

I fear they would riot. :)

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#200

Post by pjmlp »

consumer451 wrote: post #156
creshal wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your post could've been written in 2004, when Microsoft was pinky swearing it was gonna refocus on security-first development, starting with XP SP2

To be a bit fair, Windows security has gone from a laughing stock in 2004, to having Windows Defender in the 2020s. I ain't no city slickin' infosec guy, but Defender appears to be state of the art end point protection today. They can figure this stuff out sometimes, right? How did they get from Windows/AVG/ESET to Windows Defender, and how can they make that happen on Azure?

Azure is much more secure than regular Windows.
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