Bonum Certa Men Certa

Wikileaks/Cablegate Reveals That Microsoft Gave Windows Source Code to TOPSEC, Which Trains and Employs Chinese Cyberspies

Kevin Mitnick
Putting Windows source code in the hands
of the Kevin Mitnicks of China



Summary: Microsoft equips private companies -- not just governments -- with just what they need to intrude all Windows-running computers, namely a key to potential remote access without liability

NOT just incompetence and negligence [1, 2, 3] are the cause of Microsoft's security problems. Based on Cablegate leaks, it is possible that Microsoft's secret (and poorly audited) code is exploited so often in China because Microsoft gives them access to this source code (which security researchers in the West cannot see and scrutinise prior to release in binary form).



Several days ago we showed some Egypt cables (prior to Wikileaks being targeted by censors) and it helped show just how closely Microsoft works with governments on 'security'. The Guardian noticed this independently from us and highlighted the following block (filed under "US embassy cables: China uses access to Microsoft source code to help plot cyber warfare, US fears"):

56. (S//NF) CTAD comment: Additionally, CNITSEC enterprises has recruited Chinese hackers in support of nationally-funded "network attack scientific research projects." From June 2002 to March 2003, TOPSEC employed a known Chinese hacker, Lin Yong (a.k.a. Lion and owner of the Honker Union of China), as senior security service engineer to manage security service and training. Venus Tech, another CNITSEC enterprise privy to the GSP, is also known to affiliate with XFocus, one of the few Chinese hacker groups known to develop exploits to new vulnerabilities in a short period of time, as evidenced in the 2003 release of Blaster Worm (See CTAD Daily Read File (DRF) April 4, 2008). 57. (S//NF) CTAD comment: While links between top Chinese companies and the PRC are not uncommon, it illustrates the PRC's use of its "private sector" in support of governmental information warfare objectives, especially in its ability to gather, process, and exploit information. As evidenced with TOPSEC, there is a strong possibility the PRC is harvesting the talents of its private sector in order to bolster offensive and defensive computer network operations capabilities. (Appendix sources 51-52)


So, not just governments are getting access to source code. The "agreement with Microsoft... allowed select companies such as TOPSEC access to MICROSOFT source code in order to secure the Windows platform." Here it is in raw form. "TOPSEC that trains most of china cyberspys," Oiaohm quotes from it. "It's in that cable," he says. He then gives another direct quote from the cable: "TOPSEC provides services and training for the PLA and has recruited hackers in the past." On this one he remarks: "Then latter on in the cable to says they have been granted access to MS source code." The remainder can be read in our latest IRC logs, which make operation of this Web site entirely transparent, unlike governments. "Security by obscurity is that you don't give the source code to the people attacking your system," Oiaohm adds and "[i]If you are not using Security by obscurity you might as well publish the source code for everyone to see... At least then you have a better chance that truful ones will tell you where the flaws are." (typos corrected)

“Proper obscurity can be done with open source”
      --Oiaohm
He continues: "that cable is a security research document in what the hell has gone wrong... That the USA was being breached so much... Also if you dig deeper the USA side is doing the same thing... Both are trying to use closed source to give them a cyberadvantage while both have access to the source code... Proper obscurity can be done with open source... Each system must be able to have many different combinations in its security system to attacker is not quite sure what he will be walking into... So attacks take longer to develop... MS Windows where most installs have basically the same security config... Basically have a obscurity level of nothing."

Another cable speaks of an "invitation for a private meeting with a named DoS employee. The attached Microsoft Word document was a malicious". Microsoft is mostly mentioned negatively (for security reasons) in Cablegate, at least thus far. What will be revealed in the remaining 99% of Cablegate (the part which has not been published yet)?

In actual security news (not leaks of old confidential reports), Vista 7 is being bricked by software which claims to improve Windows security:

THOSE WHO ARE RUNNING 64-bit Windows 7 systems should not download the update for AVG Technologies' AV software.

AVG has withdrawn the update after complaints that the update completely bricked systems by forcing computers to go into an infinite crash loop.


Users of GNU/Linux and BSD never have such problems. Why won't the US government encourage adoption of Free software, whose transparency makes it secure? It's the same fallacy about secrecy which toppled both Windows security and now the US government. It arguably censors Wikileaks more zealously than other governments.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Parties and Milestones Again
we've begun putting up about 40 balloons
Microsoft is Disloyal Towards Its Most Loyal Employees
Against its most faithful enablers
Following the Line of Cocaine All the Way to the Top
Even a million denials and spin-doctoring won't distract from the core issue
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 27, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 27, 2025
Google News Drowning in Slop (and Slopfarms That Hijack About Half the Results)
Google News seems to be drowning in this stuff
Gemini Links 28/10/2025: "How to Maximize Your Positive Impact" and ASCII Art and Artist Attribution
Links for the day
PETA and Activism
Being staff or volunteer in PETA isn't easy
Big Blue, Huge Debt
debt will soar again
Links 27/10/2025: Mass Surveillance Sold as "AI", People Reluctant to Lose Physical Media
Links for the day
Techrights' 19th Anniversary: Bronze
Time to go back to preparing for this anniversary
Our Latest European Patent Office (EPO) Series Will Last Several Weeks, Will Ask the EPO Management and the European Union (EU) Very Difficult Questions
If nobody loses a job (or jobs) over this, then the EU basically became no better than Colombia or Nicaragua
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, Brian Fagioli, and Google News
We focus on stories that are fake or LLM slop that disguises itself as "news" about Linux
Links 27/10/2025: Wikipedia Vandalism, Bruce Perens Opens up on Childhood
Links for the day
This Site Could Not be Done by LLMs Even If It Wanted to (Because It's Not a Parrot of What Other Sites Say)
LLMs have no knowledge or deep understanding
19 Years, No Censorship
No factual information is ever going to be removed, more so if it is in the public interest
We Are Not a Conventional Site, That's Why They Hate (or Love) Us
Throughout the week this week we'll be focusing on the EPO
The Cocaine Patent Office - Part I: António Campinos Brought Corruption and Nepotism to the EPO, Then Came the Cocaine
High-level manager at the European Patent Office (EPO) caught in public with cocaine, the Office has some answering to do
Purchasing/Possessing Computers Isn't the Same as Controlling Computers
Let's strive to put computers back under the control of their users, no matter who purchased these (usually the users)
Gemini Links 27/10/2025: Alhena 5.4.3 and Fixing Bash
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 26, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 26, 2025
Thankfully We've Made Copies of More Interesting Data From statCounter
If statCounter (the Web site or the 'webapp') vanished overnight, we'd still have something left of it
More Silent Layoffs at IBM/Red Hat
when the media counts such layoffs or presents tallies the numbers are very incomplete
Links 26/10/2025: Microsoft Spies on Gamers, Open Transport Community Conference
Links for the day
Links 26/10/2025: LLM Slop / Plagiarism Programs Continue to Disappoint, CISA Layoffs Threaten Systems
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/10/2025: Gemsync and Joining the Small Web
Links for the day
India.com a Click-baiting, SEO-Spamming, Slopfarming Heap
They do this almost every day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 25, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 25, 2025
Without XBox Consoles, XBox is No More, It's Just a Brand (More Rumours of Microsoft Ending XBox, Then Laying Off Lots of Staff)
All signs indicate that Microsoft wants to "exit" the XBox business (not brand), but it does not want to publicly admit this as it would alarm staff and shareholders