US surveillance as an "Advanced Persistent Threat"

That's not some zany computer security libertarian wonk working out of his basement. That comes from a senior Microsoft guy on their official company website.

Yup. APT status isn't just for China any more.

Reshared post from +Brandon Downey

In case you missed this, Microsoft has this post about protecting its users. 

Here's the key quote:

If true, these efforts threaten to seriously undermine confidence in the security and privacy of online communications. Indeed, government snooping potentially now constitutes an “advanced persistent threat,” alongside sophisticated malware and cyber attacks.

That's right, Microsoft just called the US government the APT — a term generally thrown around to describe the actions of governments such as the PRC. 

And it's true — if the US government is willing to tap the cables belonging to US companies to conduct broad surveillance of foreigners, there is really no difference.

Kudos to Microsoft for calling it like it is.