Wednesday, March 7, 2007

WGA Reports Back To MS Even If You Choose Not To Install - Aviran's Place Heise online reports on a very interesting action Microsoft is taking during the installation of WGA. When you start WGA setup and get to the license agreement page but decided NOT to install the highly controversial WGA component and cancel the installation, the setup program will send your info and the fact that you choose not to install WGA back to their servers. In addition to that it seems that the setup program send some information stored in your registry to http://genuine.microsoft.com/. While it does not specifically identify the user, it looks like it does send some identification of your computer and Windows version (see picture) to Microsoft servers. 1:06:01 PM

Microsoft WGA Phones Home Even When Told No. Microsoft WGA Phones Home Even When Told No. Aviran writes "When you start WGA setup and get to the license agreement page but decided NOT to install the highly controversial WGA component and cancel the installation, the setup program will send information stored in your registry and the fact that you choose not to install WGA back to Microsoft's servers." [Slashdot] 1:00:00 PM

Nightline NSA Spy Exclusive: Dud. Nightline NSA Spy Exclusive: Dud. AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein breaks silence to tell ABC News' Nightline about the NSA eavesdropping on the internet, but reveals little new information. In 27B Stroke 6. [Wired News: Top Stories] 12:07:37 PM

Wal-Mart fires technician who recorded phone calls March 05, 2007   (Reuters) -- CHICAGO - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said today it fired a systems technician for intercepting text messages of people who were not Wal-Mart employees and for recording telephone conversations with a New York Times reporter without authorization. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, said an internal investigation found the technician had monitored and recorded phone calls between Wal-Mart public relations employees and a New York Times Co. reporter between September and January. The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer also said the technician, who worked in its information systems division, intercepted and stored text messages that contained certain key words, including those sent by people in the Bentonville area who were not Wal-Mart employees. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said on a call with reporters that the technician "did this on his own." While interviews with the technician gave the retailer an idea as to why he recorded the calls, Williams said she could not disclose the reasons because the case has been turned over to federal investigators. 11:52:20 AM

Spying at Wal*Mart: Human nature run amuck? Spying at Wal*Mart: Human nature run amuck?  Does the Wal-Mart eavesdropping debacle have the potential to be this year's HP scandal? A former IT security staffer for the retailer evaluates what might have happened. [Computerworld Privacy News] 11:46:37 AM

© Copyright 2007 Paul Hardwick. Last update: 3/19/07; 12:35:10 AM.