Microsoft gives police free COFEE (DONUTS can be purchased separately)

For years, people have wondered if Microsoft has built in backdoors for law enforcement. China created their own Linux distribution for government use. There have been instances of police using off the shelf monitoring tools for investigations, installing them in court-sanctioned "black bag jobs."

Now, the good folks at Ars Technica reveal that Microsoft proudly crowing over their latest achievement, a (built-in) back door into Windows and the tools to open it!

 Microsoft revealed its development of a digital forensic analysis toolkit at a security conference yesterday as part of a wider discussion of how technology can be used to fight crime. The Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, or COFEE for short, is a USB thumb drive that contains software capable of executing approximately 150 separate commands. Once plugged in, COFEE can be ordered to decrypt system passwords, display a history of internet activity, and search the system for evidence.

That loud anguished crying sound you heard is a million IT managers' heads exploding. Why? This thing has been available "to law enforcement" since last June.

Here's a question, what company in their right mind that has any requirement for confidentiality would buy software from a software company that sells decryption and password cracking tools for its' own operating system? Isn't that almost advertising how poor your software's built-in security is? Security extends beyond malware protection. It also means that if you build doors and install locks, you should install a good lock. In this case, you're being sold a foam core with a skeleton key.

I would expect a surge in Apple enterprise sales. In their zeal to be helpful and combat computer crime, this may be a shocking case of corporate suicide. They thought people were reluctant to buy Vista now? They'll be shipping XP for a very, very long time, I believe.