Windows 95 Espionage ( ?? )
Bernd Lehle (Bernd.Lehle@RUS.Uni-Stuttgart.DE)
Tue, 6 Jun 1995 10:26:08 +0200
Can anybody confirm this ? A little late for April Fool's Day... :-)
> > 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.
> >
> > "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.
> > This means that they have a list of every directory (and, potentially
> > every file) on your machine. It would not be difficult to have something
> > like a FileRequest from your system to theirs, without you knowing about
> > it. This way they could get ahold of any juicy routines you've written
> > yourself and claim them as their own if you don't have them copyrighted.
> >
> > Needless to say, I'm rather annoyed about this.
> > So spread the word as far and wide as possible: Steer clear of Windows 95.
> > There's nothing to say that this "feature" will be removed in the final
> > release.
>
--
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