14 DAY TRIAL // A couple of weeks ago, it has emerged via unofficial channels that Microsoft is planning to follow Google’s lead and encrypt Internet traffic in an attempt to block any potential spying programs launched by either the United States or other governments.
Now the software giant has confirmed in a statement that it would indeed take some steps to expand encryption across its services, calling government spying programs an “advanced persistent threat.”
“If true, these efforts threaten to seriously undermine confidence in the security and privacy of online communications. Indeed, government snooping potentially now constitutes an ‘advanced persistent threat,’ alongside sophisticated malware and cyber attacks,” Brad Smith, general counsel & executive vice president, Legal & Corporate Affairs, Microsoft, said.
Without mentioning NSA’s name specifically, Smith added that there’s no evidence that government engineers have managed to infiltrate into Microsoft’s servers to access user data.
“While we have no direct evidence that customer data has been breached by unauthorized government access, we don't want to take any chances and are addressing this issue head on. Therefore, we will pursue a comprehensive engineering effort to strengthen the encryption of customer data across our networks and services,” he explained.
Just like Google, Microsoft will make the move to 2048-bit encryption, with the new system to be in place by the end of 2014.
Microsoft has already implemented enhanced encryption for Office 365 and said that all customer content moving between users and its own servers will be encrypted by default to block any potential spying programs that could intercept traffic.
“Like many others, we are especially alarmed by recent allegations in the press of a broader and concerted effort by some governments to circumvent online security measures – and in our view, legal processes and protections – in order to surreptitiously collect private customer data,” Smith concluded.