Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why We Can No Longer Trust Microsoft

pcmag.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 310 posts

Re: Why We Can No Longer Trust Microsoft

#91

Post by tl »

acqq wrote: post #3

This is a financial disaster waiting to happen. Microsoft is oblivious if it is not doing something to divorce itself from the NSA. Apple, on the other hand, could have come out smelling like a rose, but following the death of Steve Jobs, who apparently refused to play ball with the NSA, it stupidly jumped on board to join the PRISM club. According to the Prism slides, it really looks so: "Dates when Prism collection…

Well if we're going to randomly speculate on such things, Scott Forstall resigned on October 29, 2012.

Re: Why We Can No Longer Trust Microsoft

#92

Post by josephcooney »

acqq wrote: post #3

This is a financial disaster waiting to happen. Microsoft is oblivious if it is not doing something to divorce itself from the NSA. Apple, on the other hand, could have come out smelling like a rose, but following the death of Steve Jobs, who apparently refused to play ball with the NSA, it stupidly jumped on board to join the PRISM club. According to the Prism slides, it really looks so: "Dates when Prism collection…

Is this just a function of the relative popularity of the services?

Re: Why We Can No Longer Trust Microsoft

#93

Post by nileshtrivedi »

simonh wrote: post #72
LinaLauneBaer wrote: post #9

A couple of years ago at a Linux conference in Germany I had a discussion with a Microsoft employee at their booth. At that time I was a 'hardcore' linux user with no trust in Microsoft at all. The discussion with the employee went like this: Me: "Hello. Could you tell me what Microsoft is doing at this Linux conference? I honestly want to know that." Him: "We are here to show how our products can work well together…

The way I read your pseudo-transcript, I assumed the kind of spying you were talking about was MS spying on other businesses to the advantage of MS. I would imagine that's the kind of corporate espionage type spying the MS rep was talking about. PRISM is MS handing over data to external agencies, not MS spying on people themselves.

That is still to the advantage of MS - saving on legal costs of fighting those agencies like Yahoo did.

Re: Why We Can No Longer Trust Microsoft

#94

Post by MSvsGOOG »

69_years_and wrote: post #79

I don't think native MS apps running on a local machine are a risk, I imagine (with a little nieviety) that if MS apps/OS were phoning home on a regular basis with the content of ones documents - someone would have noticed and raised a flag (or did I miss it). Nor is exchange BCC a copy to the NSA - again someone would have noticed. Cloud services excluded. PS. It's *buntu that spins my propeller. PPS. I'd be interes…

>Nor is exchange BCC a copy to the NSA - again someone would have noticed.

True, but what about Windows Phone vs. Android (with Google's apps, not just a FOSS build like Replicant) vs. Apple? Which is the lesser evil for your privacy?

Re: Why We Can No Longer Trust Microsoft

#99

Post by chii »

bad_user wrote: post #77
yuhong wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but I am talking about the practical risk based on what is known about the spying.

What really bothers me about this is not the actual spying - I always assumed that governments do engage in whatever spying they can get away with. What really bothers me about this is that U.S. companies and individuals have to keep their interactions with the NSA a secret, while obeying whatever demands the NSA has, including the installing of back-doors. Trust is a fragile thing and we rely on trust for conducting…

This is the most well reasoned argument i heard - and reflect my sentiments perfectly. Its not that i am too afraid the NSA can read my email or listen to my phone convo, but that they can coerce, "lawfully", the ISP/telco to do things against my wishes, and keep it secret from me.

These gag orders are the kind of things that creep into society and they are the first weapon against would-be activists that's perceived to be against the corporate interest (or the interest of the elite). It doesn't take much for chilling effect to set in. Fight it now, or it will be too late when it has the power to threaten the laymen.

Re: Why We Can No Longer Trust Microsoft

#100

Post by falk »

mr_spothawk wrote: post #89
falk wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steve Jobs went through a background check for a top-level security check in the 80s. I wonder if he ever received it? http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/06/steve-jobs-security... I find it hard to believe that the NSA didn't see one of the most valuable and popular companies in the world as a priority until 2012. I bet they were salivating as soon as the first iPhone launched.

With a public record as a LSD user, I wonder how they could have justified giving him clearance.

I don't think that would effect his chances. All of our latest presidents have admitted or have been proven to do illegal drugs of some sort. Not to mention that the U.S. government has done some crazy things with drugs, especially LSD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKULTRA

http://www.cracked.com/blog/five-fun-facts-about-the-cia-and...

Post reply on HN