Microsoft charges the FBI $50 for a copy of your private data

Hi everyone.

Found this on the interwebs recently. The news is from last month but still holds interest to a degree. Check it out.

There is this Syrian hactivist group called the SEA. They hacked Microsoft database and discovered some information that in some ways, isn't really much of a surprise since it's well known of the emerging police-states around different parts of the world. In my opinion, most notably here in Canada. The US too is on par I would opine.
But that's just my opinion.
Take it as it is.
Just that.

Regardless, according to the article the services that were hacked were only just 3. Read the article if you like. Link is at the bottom.

Anyways, if your a Windows user or even use services offered by the Redmond company, I would politely query what other services Microsoft has levied fees for of it's OS users ( and user services) to federal governments. And not just those law enforcement agencies of the US either.
Anyways, here's a small scoop:

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Hacktivists apparently loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have bragged they hacked into Microsoft's internal system that bills US cops and feds for access to citizens' private data.

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and that's not all. There's a bit more of course detailing the fact that MS didn't comment, or rather dispersed on commenting on the fact they were hacked by said hacktivist group. Notice that fact is very quickly dispersed with one sentence. It's the 1st sentence that is relevant.

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We’ve previously stated that Microsoft won’t comment on the validity of any stolen emails or documents. Regarding law enforcement requests, there’s nothing unusual here. Under U.S. law, companies can seek reimbursement for costs associated with complying with valid legal orders for customer data

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If read carefully, the SEA seems more interested in hacking/cracking accounts/details and so forth of government agencies, attaches, media outlets, military contractors, and corporations belonging to Western governments and countries of the Western Hemisphere. It doesn't seem to indicate interests of information in private individuals perhaps like you and me.

Anyways, the point is. Information about you is paid for.

There is much more of course at the link below. You'd have to read it to get the full grasp of it.
Also, if you use 2-step verification (which is a good idea in my opinion) pay attention to the 2nd last paragraph.

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Microsoft charges the FBI $50 for a copy of your private data, claim 'Redmond hackers'

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@SealLion/article:

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There is this Syrian hactivist group called the SEA. They hacked Microsoft database and discovered some information that in some ways, isn't really much of a surprise since it's well known of the emerging police-states around different parts of the world.

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i'd say these hacktivists are probably a fake setup (by the cia & co.), since:
- they seem to be discovering relatively useless information (already known, publicly available, common practice among other corporations, has no real political impact on data sharing policies, neither m$ nor the government is particularly embarrassed regarding the incident)
- their timing & allegiance is highly suspicious (usa & co. preparing for another round of attack/destabilizing/war-mongering/... in the middle east, syria being one of the currently prime targets)
- their hacktivism is actually more useful to their enemy than it is to them (adding fuel to the fire/conflict, immature bragging, how does syrian situation or their 'idea of the truth about the conflict' profit from this discovery?)
- similarly to some other presumably fake terrorist/hacktivist groups they also use misdirected targeting (somehow attacking/damaging persons/corporations that are not their direct enemies, basically smearing their own reputation)
- their actions work in favor of global(ist) goals to introduce world-wide 'war on cyber-terror(ism)'
- they somehow manage to accomplish things that even much more experienced hacktivists failed to do (reminds of similar achievements by some sheep-herders, remember? not to mention that their herds seem to span numerous countries and even continents, including syria, conveniently providing the familiar scapegoats to blame)

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A 94-page report [PDF] into the the SEA by security intelligence startup IntelCrawler, released on Thursday, provides one of the most comprehensive overviews of the group's activities to date along with intelligence about previously undisclosed attacks

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so now we are to believe that some private 'intelligence gathering' organization is able to easily find out what those syrian hacktivists do/did, even though they are kinda secret and barely anyone knows them? smells fake (or infiltrated), unless these guys really brag a lot and really leave a trail that can be spotted from miles away, but come on, no hacktivist, probably not even beginners/wannabes are that naive/incompetent...so, really?

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Anyways, the point is. Information about you is paid for.

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well, would it be any different if it was given out for free?
interestingly, in this scenario, the government/fbi gets what they want (user data, easy access whenever needed), the corporations get what they want (profit from the records keeping/supplying effort), there is incentive to keep a lot of records and for a long time (profitable), their sheer number speaks of inappropriate handling/requests (no court orders or wide-range authority ones, possibly automatically accepted/delivered requests), privacy concerns 'get out the window' (what concerns?), there's no political consequences (no one 'gets the boot' for such misappropriation of power), media incompetence continues (no one to properly dissect the issue and point out irregularities/exploitation/dirty parties involved, as opposed to holding hands with the government)...

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Also, if you use 2-step verification (which is a good idea in my opinion)

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how is giving google your cellphone number a good idea?
so they can keep your account safe from hackers, while you give away a little of your privacy - sound familiar?

This is a small example of how our tax dollars are being wastefully spent!