Windows Recall, the new feature that registers a user’s screen at normal intervals, has been called a “privacy nightmare” due to privacy and knowledge security risks.
Microsoft announced the AI-based generative tool on Monday; It records “snapshots” of a user’s screen every five seconds to provide a searchable record of old movements going back three months. The feature will be available in preview on new Copilot PCs that Microsoft and other vendors will begin promoting. in mid-June.
Measures are in place to protect recovery awareness, Microsoft said. Recorded knowledge is stored and processed locally and through encryption on the user’s device. Users can exclude apps and sites from the Internet that they need to keep private. They can also pause the recovery whenever they want.
However, Recall, which is enabled by default, doesn’t perform “content moderation,” according to Microsoft, meaning you can’t hide sensitive data like passwords or financial account numbers or anything else that might pop up on a PC screen. .
Recall’s ability to record and store so much sensitive user data is what temporarily sparked complaints related to data privacy and security risks.
“I think a built-in keylogger and screenshot sensor that perfectly captures everything you do on the device in a certain amount of time is a privacy nightmare for users, and I don’t think the average user actively takes advantage of it,” Pollard said. . , Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester.
“My first thought is that this looks like something that could happen very quickly,” said John Scott, principal security researcher at security software company CultureAI.
Security hazards are the biggest problem, said Douglas McKee, executive director of risk studies at SonicWall, a network security company. “With the announcement of Microsoft’s retirement, we are reminded once again how advances in artificial intelligence and technological features can offer wonderful convenience. at the expense of security,” he said in a statement. While many privacy considerations are expressed with Microsoft Recall, the genuine risk lies in the potential use attackers will make of this feature. ”
McKee said initializing a device is less difficult than other elements of an attack, such as privilege escalation, “but with Microsoft Recall, initialing is all it takes to potentially borrow sensitive data like passwords or corporate industry secrets. “
Attackers accessing a PC running Recall will potentially have everything a user has done for about 3 months, adding passwords, online banking information, sensitive messages, medical records, or any other sensitive documents.
As a result, Recall can be a less difficult way to gain sensitive knowledge than other tactics, such as installing keylogging or screen recording software, which can attract more attention. (A reminder icon is placed in the Windows formula tray to provide an indication when snapshots are taken, according to Microsoft. )
“Why install keylogging software when I can activate anything that’s built into the system?”Scott said. “It’s another way to attack, but it’s a way that didn’t exist before Microsoft said, ‘We’re taking a screenshot every five seconds,’ and more importantly, a viewable screenshot every five seconds. “
“Microsoft has taken rural living to a whole new level with this launch,” said Pollard.
Microsoft declined to comment on the security issues.
In addition to the threat of a cyberattack, knowledge privacy considerations were also raised. In the U. K. , the Information Commissioner’s Office, a public body guilty of enforcing knowledge privacy rights, said on Wednesday that it had written to Microsoft about the callback feature to “understand the safeguards in place for user privacy. “
The amount of knowledge stored and collected on a user’s PC can be problematic in terms of compliance with knowledge coverage regulations. One facet of the EU’s GDPR directive is proportionality, Scott said. You’re accumulating a massive amount of non-public knowledge, either about yourself and other people’s knowledge [with Recall], and there doesn’t seem to be a very transparent explanation as to why [to do that],” he said.
In addition to a user’s non-public information, Recall may collect and store data related to colleagues, clients, or other third parties. This can happen through a video call, for example. ” If Recall takes this snapshot every five seconds, have you given me your particular permission to have your photographs purchased under your names?There are enough of them to have a unique identifier, so there’s a huge challenge.
And even if the knowledge is stored locally, there are questions about whether it could also be subsidized elsewhere or even hosted on Microsoft’s cloud servers in the future.
Justin Lam, Senior Information Security Research Analyst at S
“While the ability to look up your usage history can save time and increase production, I’d like to tell you that the threat to small businesses from using this feature is too great,” said SonicWall’s McKee.
“First and foremost: If you can, don’t turn it on,” Forrester’s Pollard said. “I’d like to see it removed through the organization’s policy, if it’s available. If the feature is allowed at some point, I’d like to see telemetry done as well. “notify me that it is allowed so that I can do so if a user intended to allow it or if an adversary did so as part of their knowledge gathering efforts.
According to Microsoft’s admin page, those who don’t need to use Recall can turn it off with the “Disable snapshot saving for Windows” policy; This will also delete any snapshots that have already been stored on the device.
“For enterprise customers, IT administrators can turn off automatic snapshot saving by employing a group policy or a cellular device control policy,” Microsoft said on its site.
The callback feature is previewed, so adjustments can be made before it’s available.
Lam said there may be tactics on Microsoft’s part for the feature and lessen security and privacy considerations. Withdrawal can simply, for example, “forget” more recorded actions, he suggested. “Can Recall restrict your memories to a shorter duration or decrease scope?What you may lose in accuracy, you gain in user confidence,” he said.
Windows’ AI features can also be improved to the point where it’s possible to sort through Recall data more efficiently, he said. Windows Copilot can also provide “forced guidance,” waiting and warning users when they want to stop screen recording. completely.
At the moment, it’s hard to see how this feature can be used safely, Pollard said. “This feature is a threat in its entirety, and I can’t believe that any security or privacy controls make me feel comfortable enabling it in a formula I’m consuming,” he stated.
Matthew Finnegan covers Microsoft, collaboration and productivity software, AR/VR, and other enterprise IT topics. He joined IDG in January 2013 and is based in Sweden.