Microsoft can control the operating system and remove software remotely

After hackers began using botnets to mass-install Tor software on computers, Microsoft revealed the possibility of remote software removal on millions of PCs.

In August last year, the Tor browser network suddenly received a massive 4 million registered applications. In fact, it is a botnet that installs Tor on victims' computers and uses browsers to start digging Bitcoin. Immediately, Microsoft sends a remote uninstall command to the Tor browser - almost nobody knows that Windows exists this command.

According to Microsoft's explanation on the blog, once malicious code Sefnit has infected, the computers will begin downloading the components and make the computer connect to the Tor network even if the malicious code Sefnit has been removed. Since users of the old Tor version do not update themselves, it still leaves the door open for malicious code to return and provides Tor's history of many malicious vulnerabilities. And that is the weakness that Microsoft cannot support.

On August 19, 2013, millions of computers were infected with Win32 / Sefnit malware and started using Tor. Since Tor only has less than 1 million users connected directly to the Tor network, a sudden increase of 400% of users over a 2-week period is a suspect.

And so, the case was noticed by Microsoft. Hackers also unknowingly set up a working relationship between Microsoft and Tor developers. Microsoft said in its blog that they " discussed with Tor developers" when deciding to handle the situation. Tor's Jacob Applebaum developer says both Tor and Microsoft have the same big question: Did users install Tor? And Tor thinks this is impossible - just as Microsoft judged something "non-human " installed Tor in Windows.

However, the fact that Microsoft can remove the remote program is controversial. Applebaum fears the ability of Microsoft to remotely control its operating system at will. Meanwhile, Tor's chief executive Andrew Lewman is less worried, and thinks that Microsoft helps their operating system " safer " than part of their terms of service.