We have not shared the private keys. We do not share our keys. Second key for Windows Andrew Fernandes, Chief Scientist at the Ontario-based Cryptonym Corporation, is credited with discovering the identity of a second key used by Windows for encryption purposes. Two years ago, cryptographers found an alternative, and apparently superfluous, second embedded key. It is known that Microsoft negotiated with the NSA on including encryption in its product.
Conspiracy theorists say the key can be used to infiltrate targeted computers.
It gives the NSA a direct way of doing this without having to use Microsoft's own key. A more charitable theory is that Microsoft allowed the NSA a special key to secure the thousands of government computers running Windows. Ironically, introducing the second key has created a major security loophole in a mechanism which was designed to enforce US export controls on strong cryptography. Microsoft suffered serious embarrassment on Monday when hackers exposed a simple way of breaking into the mailboxes of more than 40 million users of its Hotmail e-mail service. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.