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Windows XP is the last version of Windows that's generally thought to be free of backdoors and US spyware. This is possibly why Putin seems to still use it (a p

Windows XP is the last version of Windows that's generally thought to be free of backdoors and US spyware. This is possibly why Putin seems to still use it (a photo of Putin was all over the internet a few months ago https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-lm&q=putin+with+winxp https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-lm&q=putin+...). There are private companies that claim backport security updates, although I don't know how effective they are. Their customers are primarily government and defense.

gruez 3y ago
>Windows XP is the last version of Windows that's generally thought to be free of backdoors and US spyware On what basis? Depending on your crankiness level you could argue that "backdoors" far predate that[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAKEY https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAKEY
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Or Dual_EC_DRBG.
squarefoot 3y ago
> Windows XP is the last version of Windows that's generally thought to be free of backdoors and US spyware. This is possibly why Putin seems to still use it Although it is very possible that more recent proprietary OSes contain spyware, Putin showing himself using XP is almost certainly propaganda to fuel distrust towards Microsoft and western governments/corporations in general. They have top notch FOSS developers in Russia, and I'm sure he can obtain a 100% spyware free Linux/BSD/whatever PC, unless he doesn't trust the hardware itself which can be bugged just like OSes and software (firmware, binary blobs etc.) so that he uses very old iron that most certainly don't contain malware but can run only ancient OSes. If that's the case, then it could make sense.
- jtriangle 3y ago
  Intel IME, AMD PSP, have both long been thought of as hardware backdoors. AMD's licensed zen1 chips that China makes, whose name excapes me at the moment, have the AES instructions and PSP removed. They're also banned from being imported by the state dept, so, that's either because they're also backdoored by china somehow, or, they aren't backdoor-able, maybe both. Suffice to say however, modern computers (and smartphones) are chock full of potentially spooky SoC's and someone like ol'vlad might just be paranoid enough to not trust them.
  - ronsor 3y ago
    The China version has all the American backdoors removed and Chinese backdoors added instead.
    - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
      So if I live in the west I can protect myself from being spied on by my own gov by using Chinese CPUs? Sounds like a selling point to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Sunspark 3y ago
  The Intel Management Engine was introduced 2008 (2013 for AMD). XP was introduced in 2001 and was succeeded by Vista in 2007. The dates for the ME and Vista introduction seem close enough that if there was some sort of secret plan, that concurrent development would have been happening. That said, I have read many times that Putin does not use any computer or the Internet. (For those unfamiliar with it, the ME is an inaccessible second CPU running Minix and is network-aware.)
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    > That said, I have read many times that Putin does not use any computer or the Internet. I wouldn't be surprised no. He's got flunkies to do everything for him. And he does seem pretty out of touch with reality, which might be because they tell him only what he wants to hear. For example consider the war on Ukraine, it seems he really expected to overrun them in a day or two.
    - netsharc 3y ago
      Legend has it that he was giving money to his intelligence service to bribe the Ukrainian army generals to surrender at first sight of the invasion. They noticed "You're giving me money that you don't need a receipt in return, in preparation for something that's never going to happen? Let me call you back, I need to call the Bentley dealership.". And when asked they just reported "Yeah, the Ukrainian army will surrender, no problem!"...
- carlosjobim 3y ago
  > Putin showing himself using XP is almost certainly propaganda to fuel distrust towards Microsoft and western governments/corporations in general. Hardly. He probably has more important matters to think about. That would be a world record in propaganda with the least impact. There's no reason for him or anybody else to use inferior FOSS software when an old OS does just fine.
pieter_mj 3y ago
Doesn't the xp tcp/ip driver still contain an unpatched zero day?
- GartzenDeHaes 3y ago
  That would be where private companies, and presumably foreign governments, providing patches come in. I've never worked with any of these companies, so I don't know the details. They say a lot of Win7/8 patches work on XP, possibly with some patching of the patches.
peppermint_gum 3y ago
>Windows XP is the last version of Windows that's generally thought to be free of backdoors and US spyware. This is possibly why Putin seems to still use it Despite every major news outlet reporting this back in 2019, this is actually fake news. People saw that the taskbar appeared blue in a low-res photo, and concluded that it must be Windows XP. Very sloppy journalism. If you look at the full-resolution version of that 2019 photo, it's clear that it's Windows 7 (or maybe 8 with a Start menu mod): http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big2x/W2kaDAtDzXJAFYH8TLTem6KDYNkcEEHk.jpg http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big2x/W2kaDAtDz...

gruez 3y ago

>Windows XP is the last version of Windows that's generally thought to be free of backdoors and US spyware On what basis? Depending on your crankiness level you could argue that "backdoors" far predate that[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAKEY https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSAKEY

wkat4242 3y ago
Or Dual_EC_DRBG.

squarefoot 3y ago

> Windows XP is the last version of Windows that's generally thought to be free of backdoors and US spyware. This is possibly why Putin seems to still use it Although it is very possible that more recent proprietary OSes contain spyware, Putin showing himself using XP is almost certainly propaganda to fuel distrust towards Microsoft and western governments/corporations in general. They have top notch FOSS developers in Russia, and I'm sure he can obtain a 100% spyware free Linux/BSD/whatever PC, unless he doesn't trust the hardware itself which can be bugged just like OSes and software (firmware, binary blobs etc.) so that he uses very old iron that most certainly don't contain malware but can run only ancient OSes. If that's the case, then it could make sense.

jtriangle 3y ago
Intel IME, AMD PSP, have both long been thought of as hardware backdoors. AMD's licensed zen1 chips that China makes, whose name excapes me at the moment, have the AES instructions and PSP removed. They're also banned from being imported by the state dept, so, that's either because they're also backdoored by china somehow, or, they aren't backdoor-able, maybe both. Suffice to say however, modern computers (and smartphones) are chock full of potentially spooky SoC's and someone like ol'vlad might just be paranoid enough to not trust them.
- ronsor 3y ago
  The China version has all the American backdoors removed and Chinese backdoors added instead.
  - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    So if I live in the west I can protect myself from being spied on by my own gov by using Chinese CPUs? Sounds like a selling point to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sunspark 3y ago
The Intel Management Engine was introduced 2008 (2013 for AMD). XP was introduced in 2001 and was succeeded by Vista in 2007. The dates for the ME and Vista introduction seem close enough that if there was some sort of secret plan, that concurrent development would have been happening. That said, I have read many times that Putin does not use any computer or the Internet. (For those unfamiliar with it, the ME is an inaccessible second CPU running Minix and is network-aware.)
- wkat4242 3y ago
  > That said, I have read many times that Putin does not use any computer or the Internet. I wouldn't be surprised no. He's got flunkies to do everything for him. And he does seem pretty out of touch with reality, which might be because they tell him only what he wants to hear. For example consider the war on Ukraine, it seems he really expected to overrun them in a day or two.
  - netsharc 3y ago
    Legend has it that he was giving money to his intelligence service to bribe the Ukrainian army generals to surrender at first sight of the invasion. They noticed "You're giving me money that you don't need a receipt in return, in preparation for something that's never going to happen? Let me call you back, I need to call the Bentley dealership.". And when asked they just reported "Yeah, the Ukrainian army will surrender, no problem!"...
carlosjobim 3y ago
> Putin showing himself using XP is almost certainly propaganda to fuel distrust towards Microsoft and western governments/corporations in general. Hardly. He probably has more important matters to think about. That would be a world record in propaganda with the least impact. There's no reason for him or anybody else to use inferior FOSS software when an old OS does just fine.

pieter_mj 3y ago

Doesn't the xp tcp/ip driver still contain an unpatched zero day?

GartzenDeHaes 3y ago
That would be where private companies, and presumably foreign governments, providing patches come in. I've never worked with any of these companies, so I don't know the details. They say a lot of Win7/8 patches work on XP, possibly with some patching of the patches.

peppermint_gum 3y ago

>Windows XP is the last version of Windows that's generally thought to be free of backdoors and US spyware. This is possibly why Putin seems to still use it Despite every major news outlet reporting this back in 2019, this is actually fake news. People saw that the taskbar appeared blue in a low-res photo, and concluded that it must be Windows XP. Very sloppy journalism. If you look at the full-resolution version of that 2019 photo, it's clear that it's Windows 7 (or maybe 8 with a Start menu mod): http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big2x/W2kaDAtDzXJAFYH8TLTem6KDYNkcEEHk.jpg http://static.kremlin.ru/media/events/photos/big2x/W2kaDAtDz...