Microsoft Bolstering Its Defenses Against NSA Snooping

After learning that the National Security Agency may have  intercepted traffic inside the private networks of Google and Yahoo, Microsoft is moving to enact a major data encryption effort. General Counsel Brad Smith told the Washington Post that, although Microsoft has no independent verification that the NSA surveillance project that affected its tech peers was also targeting Microsoft, it would be “very disturbing” if true. Google has already moved to 2,048-bit internet encryption keys, a type of security measure that could take more than a decade to breach, and Yahoo and Facebook have said they also plan to adopt that stringent security method in the near future. Microsoft announced last week it would introduce message encryption for Office 365 in early 2014. -Today’s General Counsel/DR