http://localghost.org/posts/a-traffic-analysis-of-windows-10 A Traffic Analysis of Windows 10
Some Czech guy did a traffic analysis <http://aeronet.cz/news/analyza-windows-10-ve-svem-principu-jde-o-pouhy-terminal-na-sber-informaci-o-uzivateli-jeho-prstech-ocich-a-hlasu/> of data produced by Windows 10, and released his findings the other day. His primary thesis was that Windows 10 acts more like a terminal than an operating system -- because of the extent of the "cloud" integration, a large portion of the OS functions are almost dependant on remote (Microsoft's) servers. The amount of collected information, even with strict privacy settings, is quite alarming. Information transmitted *All text typed on the keyboard* is stored in temporary files, and sent (once per 30 mins) to: oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net pre.footprintpredict.com reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com There isn't a clear purpose for this, considering there there's no autocorrect/prediction anywhere in the OS. The implications of this are significant: because this is an OS-level keylogger, all the data you're trying to transmit securely is now sitting on some MS server. This includes passwords and encrypted chats. This also includes the on-screen keyboard, so there is no way to authenticate to a website without MS also getting your password. *Telemetry* is sent once per 5 minutes, to: vortex.data.microsoft.com vortex-win.data.microsoft.com telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net oca.telemetry.microsoft.com oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net You might think that "telemetry" has to do with OS usage or similar... turns out it's telemetry about the user. For example, typing a phone number anywhere into the Edge browser transmits it to the servers above. In another example, *typing the name of any popular movie* into your *local* file search starts a telemetry process that indexes all media files on your computer and transmits them to: df.telemetry.microsoft.com reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com pre.footprintpredict.com It's hard to imagine any purpose for this other than the obvious piracy crackdown possiblities. When a *webcam* is first enabled, ~35mb of data gets immediately transmitted to: oca.telemetry.microsoft.com oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com i1.services.social.microsoft.com i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net *Everything that is said into an enabled microphone* is immediately transmitted to: oca.telemetry.microsoft.com oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com pre.footprintpredict.com i1.services.social.microsoft.com i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net telemetry.appex.bing.net telemetry.urs.microsoft.com cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com If this weren't bad enough, *this behaviour still occurs after Cortana is fully disabled/uninstalled*. It's speculated that the purpose of this function to build up a massive voice database, then tie those voices to identities, and eventually be able to identify anyone simply by picking up their voice, whether it be a microphone in a public place or a wiretap on a payphone. Interestingly, if Cortana is enabled, the voice is first transcribed to text, then the transcription is sent to: pre.footprintpredict.com reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com df.telemetry.microsoft.com If *Windows is left unattended* for ~15 mins, a large volume of traffic starts being transmitted to various servers. This may be the raw audio data, rather than just samples. Other concerns While the inital reflex may be to block all of the above servers via HOSTS, it turns out this won't work: Microsoft has taken the care to hardcode certain IPs, meaning that there is no DNS lookup and no HOSTS consultation. However, if the above servers are blocked via HOSTS, Windows will pretend to be crippled by continuously throwing errors, while still maintaining data collection in the background. Other than an increase in errors, HOSTS blocking did not affect the volume, frequency, or rate of data being transmitted. *Original article <http://aeronet.cz/news/analyza-windows-10-ve-svem-principu-jde-o-pouhy-terminal-na-sber-informaci-o-uzivateli-jeho-prstech-ocich-a-hlasu/>, credit AE News* __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmNzE2YTNzBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0Mzk0MjE2MjA-> - New Members <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/members/all;_ylc=X3oDMTJndmduOWtrBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2bWJycwRzdGltZQMxNDM5NDIxNjIw> 1 [image: Yahoo! Groups] <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlMzE1am1vBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQzOTQyMTYyMA--> • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • Unsubscribe <[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms of Use <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> __,_._,___ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
