Microsoft denies handing 'backdoor' access to police

by cynthia yoo | May 1, 2008 at 09:11 am | 206 views | 2 comments

This week, the blogosphere was rife with rumours that Microsoft is giving "backdoor keys" to their Windows systems to police.
The accusations began after Microsoft announced a new tool called the Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE) during a law enforcement conference in Seattle this past Monday.

In a statement to BetaNews this afternoon, a Microsoft spokesperson denied that a technology unveiled at a law enforcement conference in Seattle on Monday would be used to equip officers and investigators with "backdoors" into Windows systems, as various blogs and news sources have since speculated.

"COFEE does not circumvent Windows Vista BitLocker encryption or undermine any protections in Windows through secret 'backdoors' or other undocumented means," reads Microsoft's explanation to BetaNews today.

According to a transcript of the talk at the Law Enforcement Technology Conference 2008, posted on Microsoft's Web site, Brad Smith, Microsoft VP and general counsel, described COFEE as "a Swiss Army knife [for] law enforcement officers."

Smith went on to say that the USB fob contains 150 software tools aimed at helping police with the job of forensics, or crime investigation.

"It can be programmed to do all of the work automatically, in which case it can do what it needs to do in about 20 minutes, instead of four hours. But we also designed it to be a platform, if you will, so you are your colleagues can customize it further, if you like," according to the general counsel.

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liamssoft

at 14:04 on May 1st, 2008

good stuff:

cynthia yoo, Good stuff. If it helps prevent cyber crime its a good thing, but in the wrong hands it would be a valuable tool for hackers.

the monk

at 16:34 on May 1st, 2008

I agree with liamssoft; it is a much needed tool for fighting cyber crime but in the wrong hands could be a tool that could help expedite the hacking process. I would be very interested to know who (as in what divisions of law enforcement) they are giving it to. It should not be given to local police in my opinion (where it could very quickly leak into the wrong hands) – would be better used by the FBI, Secret Service, and NSA.

the monk has contributed a photo to this story.