Microsoft

Passport Proliferates

Over the last few weeks, we have seen a couple of major issues crop up concerning the legal monopoly that is the Microsoft Corporation. The first concerns the Passport concept that Microsoft seems to be shoving down consumers throats. At first they claimed it was going to be used as a simple tool to help you make online purchases. However, Passport now seems to be creeping its way into a whole lot more. Hotmail users need a Passport account, which is odd because it would seem that personal, private email has nothing to do with making online purchases. MSN users now need a passport account, which is again odd, because content browsing should have very little do with making discreet purchases, right?

Now the latest addition to the family has come to light. Microsoft is now requiring users of its ZONE gaming portal to have a Passport account. What you say? What does gaming have to do with secure purchases? Not a darn thing! That is what I've been trying to tell you!

Passport is not designed to be an e-wallet alone. It is also designed as a tool for Microsoft to keep track of everything you do online! It watches your gaming habits and builds a database of what you do and for how long. It watches you surf over their MSN portal and keeps track of what sites you visit, what content you read and how long your stays are. It watches which advertisements catch your eye and which don't. It watches your email patterns to see who you communicate with and where your mail comes and goes. Do you spend time emailing Amazon using your hotmail account? Do you spend time emailing other internet providers looking for better deals? Do you email banks in search of rate information? All of these types of requests can be cataloged and stored in the giant Passport database managed by Microsoft.

Microsoft can use that information to build consumer profiles and in turn use those profiles to target advertising and services directly to each consumer. They can also share that information with third party marketing firms for a fee, generating even more revenue for their overflowing coffers. Why should you be worried? Read on, McDuff...

Security Breaches

The second big piece of Microsoft news I've seen relates to security issues with Windows XP and Internet Explorer. We began to hear a few rumblings about a security problem with Internet Explorer, and users were told in the press to update their browsers to help plug a few holes. This is fairly typical, so nobody raised much of a noise about it. Browsers always have issues, so most of us are used to it.

However, the second shoe was about to drop, and drop hard. It seemed that someone had discovered three major flaws in Windows XP, one of which was potentially devastating. So devastating in fact that the company who discovered it kept mum to the press and went directly to Microsoft with the information. They worked feverishly with Microsoft for the next six weeks to come out with a patch, hoping nobody else would find out about the vulnerability before they were able to fix it. Luckily for Microsoft, they succeeded.

So, Windows XP, the most secure operating system Microsoft has ever produced, has a major flaw in it that lets just about anybody gain full control of your computer from a remote internet connection. They can also exploit XP flaws that let them use other peoples machines in DOS (Denial of Service) attacks. They can reroute data from that person’s machine to another destination. These are very, very serious flaws indeed, but even worse because of Passport.

Think of it. The more places you use Passport, the more opportunities hackers have to break into your Passport account. The more information Microsoft stores in these Passport databases, the more information hackers will be able to get their hands on. Not just credit card numbers, but Social Security information, drivers license information and a whole lot more. Imagine just how much easier identity theft can be when you combine the pervasiveness of Passport with the vulnerabilities of Windows and the Internet. Why should you worry? Put the pieces together! Then think about all the other security issues Microsoft is not telling you about...