About those alleged backdoors in Microsoft products...
Scott Charney, of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing, said the government has "never" asked for a backdoor in Microsoft products. Yet a former engineer working on BitLocker claimed the government does ask, but those requests are “informal.”
Four of Microsoft offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, China, were raided as part of an official government investigation. Microsoft China spokeswoman Joan Li confirmed that Investigators of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce were investigating the company and Microsoft would “actively cooperate”’ with the Chinese government. The South China Morning Post reported that the investigation may involve antitrust matters.
In May, China cited computer security concerns and banned Windows 8 from being installed on government PCs. After China claimed Microsoft had backdoors in the OS to allow for U.S. government spying, Microsoft issued the following five statements:
- Microsoft has never assisted any government in an attack of another government or clients.
- Microsoft has never provided any government the authority to directly visit our products or services.
- Microsoft has never provided any so-called "Backdoor" into its products or services.
- Microsoft has never provided the data or info of our clients to the U.S. Govt. or National Security Agency.
- Microsoft has never concealed any requests from any government for information about its clients.