Mon, 12 Jun 2006

Microsoft Misrepresenting WGA's Functionality?

This is as bad as the Sony rootkit fiasco a few months back. I have got to figure out a way to get this thing off my only remaining Winbox... or failing that, buy another Mac. I'm am so over these idiots monkeying around with security that I just can't stand it anymore.

According to an article on Groklaw, Microsoft is misrepresenting what the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool is to pressure people into installing it. It comes with no uninstall, it fails to disclose many pieces of information it provides to Microsoft, and it misrepresents itself as a 'critical update' when it does not address any security vulnerability, although it remains to be seen if it can create one. ZDNet has a series of screenshots so that you can see exactly how badly it misrepresents itself. Oh, and it also checks for updates, so Microsoft can presumably execute arbitrary code on any machine with it installed, merely by making that code part of a WGA update.

(link) [Slashdot]

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