Is Windows Spying On You?

[ar]

If you’ve installed any Microsoft updates recently you may recallseeing something called Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) in amongst thebits and pieces you are urged to install. WGA is meant to validate yourcopy of Windows, but at the same time WGA also installs somethingcalled the Windows Genuine Advantage Notification tool.

This is a little utility that looks for pirated copies of Microsoft software, but here’s the worrying bit.

Every time you boot up your PC it calls home to Microsoft, (oronce a day if your PC is left running). MS are cagey about the datathat’s being exchanged during these brief transactions or why a dailycheck should be necessary if the software on your PC is fully legit,but it has emerged that it will enable MS to remotely deactivate anyprograms it deems to have been pirated, at the moment…

No onecan object to their system being validated but it only needs to happenonce and the Notification business sounds a lot like spyware.

Adecent Firewall should stop this use of your Internet connectionwithout your permission, but only if you spot the warning, which mostpeople will probably agree to as it refers to the WGA validation tool.

If you are concerned about this intrusion you might want to take a look at this free WGA Notification removal tool , which leaves the WGA Validation component intact so critical updates should still proceed as normal.