The US-based firm, however said it does not have any direct evidence of customer data being breached illegally by the government.
‘For many years, we've used encryption in our products and services to protect our customers from online criminals and hackers.
‘While, we have no direct evidence that customer data has been breached by unauthorised government access, we don't want to take any chances and are addressing this issue head on,’ Microsoft General Counsel and Executive VP (Legal & Corporate Affairs) Brad Smith said in a statement on Wednesday.
Microsoft said many of its customers have ‘serious concerns’ about ‘government surveillance of the Internet.’
‘We share their concerns. That's why we are taking steps to ensure governments use legal process rather than technological brute force to access customer data,’ the software major added. Microsoft said it is alarmed by the recent allegations in the press of a broader and concerted effort by some governments to circumvent online security measures to collect private customer data.In particular, recent stories have reported allegations of governmental interception and collection — without search warrants or legal subpoenas — of customer data as it travels between customers and servers or between company data centres in the industry, it added.
‘Indeed, government snooping potentially now constitutes an advanced persistent threat, alongside sophisticated malware and cyber attacks,’ Microsoft said, adding, such allegations, if true, threaten to undermine confidence in security and privacy of online communications.
EU okays MS’s Nokia cell phone biz takeover
Brussels: The European Commission on Thursday approved Microsoft’s nearly 5.5-billion-euro takeover of the mobile phone business of Finland’s Nokia which once dominated the global industry.
The acquisition does ‘not raise any competition concerns, in particular because there are only modest overlaps between’ the two companies, the Commission said in a statement. The links that do exist between existing Microsoft activities and Nokia’s smartphone devices ‘are unlikely to lead to competitors being shut out from the market,’ it said. In smartphones and tablets, the two companies face ‘several strong rivals, such as Samsung and Apple (who) will continue to compete with the merged entity,’ it said. Software giant Microsoft would also have little incentive to restrict use of its Windows operating system for other device makers or of its mobile apps, it said. Once the world leader in mobile phones, Nokia lost its top place to South Korea’s Samsung in 2012, especially as its rivals took the lead in the key smartphone market.
‘For many years, we've used encryption in our products and services to protect our customers from online criminals and hackers.
‘While, we have no direct evidence that customer data has been breached by unauthorised government access, we don't want to take any chances and are addressing this issue head on,’ Microsoft General Counsel and Executive VP (Legal & Corporate Affairs) Brad Smith said in a statement on Wednesday.
Microsoft said many of its customers have ‘serious concerns’ about ‘government surveillance of the Internet.’
‘We share their concerns. That's why we are taking steps to ensure governments use legal process rather than technological brute force to access customer data,’ the software major added. Microsoft said it is alarmed by the recent allegations in the press of a broader and concerted effort by some governments to circumvent online security measures to collect private customer data.In particular, recent stories have reported allegations of governmental interception and collection — without search warrants or legal subpoenas — of customer data as it travels between customers and servers or between company data centres in the industry, it added.
‘Indeed, government snooping potentially now constitutes an advanced persistent threat, alongside sophisticated malware and cyber attacks,’ Microsoft said, adding, such allegations, if true, threaten to undermine confidence in security and privacy of online communications.
EU okays MS’s Nokia cell phone biz takeover
Brussels: The European Commission on Thursday approved Microsoft’s nearly 5.5-billion-euro takeover of the mobile phone business of Finland’s Nokia which once dominated the global industry.
The acquisition does ‘not raise any competition concerns, in particular because there are only modest overlaps between’ the two companies, the Commission said in a statement. The links that do exist between existing Microsoft activities and Nokia’s smartphone devices ‘are unlikely to lead to competitors being shut out from the market,’ it said. In smartphones and tablets, the two companies face ‘several strong rivals, such as Samsung and Apple (who) will continue to compete with the merged entity,’ it said. Software giant Microsoft would also have little incentive to restrict use of its Windows operating system for other device makers or of its mobile apps, it said. Once the world leader in mobile phones, Nokia lost its top place to South Korea’s Samsung in 2012, especially as its rivals took the lead in the key smartphone market.