Microsoft Gives Backdoor to Law Enforcement -- Well, Not Really

Admit it. You always thought Microsoft had put a backdoor into its operating system to allow law enforcement agents to worm their way into your computer.

Now the proof is here. At least that's how some readers are interpreting a story out yesterday about a forensic tool that Microsoft is providing crime-stoppers to help them extract evidence from computers seized at crime scenes.

The Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, or COFEE, is a USB memory stick that was "quietly distributed" to a handful of law-enforcement agencies last June, according to Seattle Times tech reporter Benjamin Romano. Romano says the portable device can "decrypt passwords and analyze a computer's Internet activity, as well as data stored in the computer."