Summary: Microsoft's EVP of Legal and Corporate Affairs outlined the company's new data protection strategy on the basis that the US government is an "advanced persistent threat" — a label used for cyber criminals.

By Violet Blue for Zero Day | December 6, 2013 -- 12:08 GMT (04:08 PST)

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While Microsoft's recent move to encrypt user data made the most headlines, the reasoning underlying its new data protection strategies classify the US government in the same category as a cyber-criminal group.

Brad Smith, Microsoft's EVP of Legal and Corporate Affairs, labeled the American government as an "advanced persistent threat" in a December 4 post on The Official Microsoft Blog.

The term advanced persistent threat (APT) refers to an attacker, usually an organized group of malicious attackers, that should be considered harmful and dangerous — and an overall method of attack that plays a "long game."

Microsoft's explosive post begins by stating, "Many of our customers have serious concerns about government surveillance of the Internet."

Smith wrote in Protecting customer data from government snooping:

(...) Like many others, we are especially alarmed by recent allegations in the press

MORE @ http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-us-government-is-an-advanced-persistent-threat-7000024019/