Re: Windows 95 Espionage ( ?? )

[John.Mayo () CSCOE AC COM (John Mayo - NSM)]

> > >  Microsoft officials confirm that beta versions of Windows 95 include a
> > >  small viral routine called Registration Wizard.  It interrogates every
> > >  system on a network gathering intelligence on what software is being run
> > >  on which machine.  It then creates a complete listing of both Microsoft's
> > >  and competitors' products by machine, which it reports to Microsoft when
> > >  customers sign up for Microsoft's Network Services, due for launch later
> > >  this year.

Microsoft has stated that the Registration Wizard has to be run by a user,
and the user has to "authorize" (via a dialog box) sending the info.
According to them, the Registration Wizard is simply supposed to
replace the paper-based resgistration card.

> > >  "In Short" column, page 88, _Information Week_ magazine, May 22, 1995
> > >
> > >  The implications of this action, and the attitude of Microsoft to plan
> > >  such action, beggars the imagination.
> > >  An update on this. A friend of mine got hold of the beta test CD
> > >  of Win95, and set up a packet sniffer between his serial port and the
> > >  modem. When you try out the free demo time on The Microsoft Network, it
> > >  transmits your entire directory structure in background.

I can think of at least one reason for this (not that it is necessarily
a good one):

The MSN downloads new versions of itself automagically. Transmitting the
directory structure *could be* a way to find somewhere to put the
downloaded files (i.e. Where's the temp directory?).

Of course, conspiracy theories are more fun. :)

Disclaimer: I am a Unix admin, not a Windows 95 wizard.

For more info, lots of trade magazines had followup articles last week.
There were several letters to the editor in Information Week, I believe.

Jack Mayo

mayojoh () cscoe ac com    | Disclaimer: What I say isn't what they say.
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