German Army No Longer Uses Microsoft Programs

[Lucas Corso]

Report: German Army No Longer Uses Microsoft Programs

Due to the fear that they may be spied upon by US secret services, the German Foreign Office and the German army want to seal all security gaps, according to the current edition of the news magazine Der Spiegel. The German army will no longer use any Microsoft software in computers that are used in sensitive areas. According to findings by German security authorities, the US National Security Agency (NSA) has access to all pertinent Microsoft source code and can thus read even encrypted data.
To protect secrets, the German Ministry of Defense now uses encryption technology from the German firms Siemens and Telekom.
Germany's Foreign Office has also postponed plans to introduce video conferences with its foreign representatives. During a Telekom presentation in Berlin at the start of March, State Secretary Gunter Pleuger found out that, for technical reasons, all satellite transmissions travel by way of the American city Denver, in Colorado.
This detour through the USA was too uncertain for Pleuger. "We may as well just hold our conferences in Langley," joked one of Pleuger's co-workers. Langley, Va.,is the home of the American secret service, the CIA.


Source:Report: German Army No Longer Uses Microsoft Programs


I was uncertain if post this here or under Technology, Computer Science & Robotics