Microsoft’s forensic backdoor
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Now here’s some remarkable news. I mean, you did expect it but you just never heard any evidence on it. But when you read this article on a USB device that Microsoft offers to law-enforcement agencies you might consider changing operating system. The COFEE, which stands for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor has 150 commands that should reduce the time to gather forensic evidence. It can decrypt passwords and analyze a computer’s Internet activity. Brad Smith from Microsoft demonstrated the COFEE to 350 law-enforcement experts last monday.
Now you may feel a little awkward that anyone who ownes a COFEE can extracts forensic data from your (running) windows system but please keep in mind that there is a very legitimate reason for this kind of technology. You see “it’s for the children”. As Brad Smith (Microsoft) puts it: “Criminals seek to win a child’s confidence in cyberspace and meet in real space.” Everytime someone uses the “it’s for the children” argument you better keep an eye on them.