Microsoft general counsel has likened government snooping efforts to ‘advanced persistent threats’ and has revealed that the company will be encrypting customer data while in transit between its data centres.
Highlighting Microsoft concerns over recent revelations Brad Smith, General Counsel & Executive Vice President, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft said in a blog post that the company shares customers’ concerns of government snooping in the US and that it will be taking steps that will ensure that access to customer data can only be obtained through proper legal channels and not through brute force.
“…government snooping potentially now constitutes an “advanced persistent threat,” alongside sophisticated malware and cyber attacks” said Smith.
To address the issue, Microsoft will be taking actions in three areas that will ensure encryption of data across all its services, reinforced legal protection for customer data and enhanced transparency of its software code through which it wants to assure customers that its software don’t contain any back doors.
Microsoft will be encrypting customer data across all its productivity, communications and developer services including SkyDrive, Office 365, Windows Azure and Outlook.com. Microsoft has vowed to implement “best-in-class industry cryptography to protect these channels, including Perfect Forward Secrecy and 2048-bit key lengths.”
Microsoft also revealed that it is working with other companies to ensure that customer data, when it travels between services operated by Microsoft and other companies, is encrypted.
When it comes to reinforcing legal protection, Microsoft will now ensure that its customers are notified and it receives legal orders demanding access to their data. In case the company receives gag orders, it will challenge them in court.
On the transparency front, Microsoft “will open a network of transparency centers that will provide these customers with even greater ability to assure themselves of the integrity of Microsoft’s products. We’ll open these centers in Europe, the Americas and Asia, and we’ll further expand the range of products included in these programs.”
And about time too!