Microsoft acknowledges Lenovo Windows 7 OEM master key leak
Windows 7 is still three months away from general availability, but that hasn’t stopped the final version leaking to the Internet. Earlier this week there were rumors the Lenovo Windows 7 Ultimate OEM DVD ISO had also leaked. Microsoft has acknowledged this has happened but claims it isn’t a problem.
Illegal copies of Windows 7 are already all over the Internet, having leaked to torrent sites as soon as Microsoft released the RTM build. Which is obviously a problem for Microsoft. But it isn’t as big a problem as what happened earlier this week when an ISO file of Windows 7 RTM sent to Lenovo also leaked. This contained a master key which Lenovo would have used to generate activation keys for its OEM installed copies of Windows 7 Ultimate.
However, although Microsoft has now acknowledged the ISO file has leaked, it’s maintained this isn’t a problem. For starters, it has blacklisted the OEM key so no computer will be sold with Windows 7 and that activation key installed. Which means anyone using that activation key will be known to be using a pirated copy rather than there being any confusion.
Secondly, Microsoft claims Windows 7 contains improved security to prevent illegal copies of Windows being used. In a post on the Genuine Windows Blog, it claims, “The Windows Activation Technologies included in Windows 7 are designed to handle situations such as this one, and customers using these tools and methods should expect Windows to detect them.” Which sounds like a threat that as soon as a pirated copy of Windows 7 Ultimate connects to the Microsoft servers it will be detected. So beware.
Microsoft claims that this is for our benefit because using pirated copies of Windows 7 obviously puts us at risk of being “exposed to malware as well as identity theft.” Which may well be the case but I suspect Microsoft is instead looking out for itself here in trying to crack down on piracy, particularly of its new operating system before it’s even been released.
This is sure to not be the end of the piracy problem. The hackers could alter the ISO in order to get around Microsoft’s attempts to safeguard Windows 7. And even if they don’t then Windows 7 is likely to be cracked and hacked throughout its life. The problem for Microsoft is that it can only do so much in advance, with most problems of this nature instead relying on reaction rather than prevention.
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