Microsoft has reportedly recently struck a deal with security firm FireEye, according to a report in Australian magazine Arn. The deal gives FireEye access to all of the telemetry data collected by Windows 10.
The publication states that FireEye will offer Microsoft in exchange for the company's iSIGHT Intelligence software that will be used by Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection on all Windows 10 devices.
FireEye's iSIGHT Intelligence software is a threat prevention application that can check whether businesses have the prerequisites and tools to thwart an attack.
On the other hand, Windows Defender is a program that comes built into Windows 10 and is enabled by default.
The company's customers using Pro and Enterprise editions can upgrade to Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, which features behavioral sensors, security analysis, and cloud-based threat intelligence.
The publication states that the partnership certainly benefits Microsoft, specifically the reputation and reliability of the commercial version of Windows Defender.
A press release issued by FireEye on November 3, 2016 provides additional details about the agreement.
It should be noted that iSIGHT Intelligence software is available through Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP), but not the free version of Windows Defender.
WDATP customers can access various technical indicators provided by the software. These include the attacker's primary motivation, tools used, information about target domains and geographic regions, and a description of the attacker and their operations.
According to ARN's post, security teams can have all Windows 10 telemetry data through subscription billing models.
The company will have access to telemetry data from all Windows 10 devices. An overview of which versions of Windows are included is provided on the TechNet Web.
Meanwhile, neither FireEye, Microsoft, or ARN's publication revealed details about the scope of telemetry data FireEye will have at its disposal.
However, according to Microsoft's terms of service, the above was probably expected:
“We share your personal data with your consent or as necessary to complete any transaction or to provide any product you have requested or authorized. We also share data with Microsoft affiliates and subsidiaries, with vendors working on our behalf, when required by law or to respond to legal process, to protect our customers, to protect life, to maintain the security of our products, and to protect the rights or property of Microsoft.”
For now, what we can say for sure is that the terms of the agreement are not yet known, and so we cannot know if FireEye gains access to all telemetry data.
However, the fact that telemetry data is offered to third parties is quite problematic.
Below is a detailed breakdown of the data collected by Microsoft, according to the terms of use of each of their software:
“Microsoft collects data to operate effectively and give you the best possible experience with its products. Some of this data is provided directly by you, such as when you create a Microsoft account, submit a search query to Bing, give a voice command to Cortana, upload a document to OneDrive, purchase an MSDN subscription, sign up for Office 365, or contact us for support. We obtain some data by recording how you interact with our products, for example, by using technologies like cookies and by receiving error reports or usage data from software running on your device.
We also obtain data from third parties. For example, we supplement the data we collect by purchasing demographic data from other companies. We also use services from other companies to determine your location based on your IP address so that we can tailor certain products to your location.
You have choices about the data we collect. When you are asked to provide personal data, you can decline. However, if you choose not to provide data that is necessary to provide a product or feature, you may not be able to use that product or service.
The data we collect depends on the products and features you use, and may include the following:
Name and contact information. We collect your first and last name, email address, mailing address, telephone number, and other similar contact information.
Credentials. We collect passwords, password hints, and similar security information used for authentication and account access.
Demographic data. We collect data about you, such as your age, gender, country and preferred language.
Payment Data. We collect data that is necessary to process your payments when you make purchases, such as your payment method number (e.g. credit card number), as well as the security code associated with the payment method.
Usage Data. We collect data about how you and your device interact with Microsoft and our products. For example, we collect the following:
- Product Usage Data. We collect data about the features you use, the items you purchase, and the websites you visit. This data includes your voice commands and text interactions with Bing, Cortana, and our chat bots.
- Device Data. We collect data about your device and the network you use to connect to our products. This includes data about the operating systems and other software installed on your device, including any product keys. The data also includes IP address, device identifiers (such as the IMEI number for phones), regional settings, and language settings.
- Error reports and performance data. We collect information about product performance and any problems you experience with them. This data helps us diagnose problems with the products you use, as well as improve our products and provide solutions. Depending on the product and your settings, error reports may include data such as the type or severity of the problem, details of the software or hardware associated with an error, the contents of files you were using when an error occurred, and data about other software on your device.
- Support Data. When you contact Microsoft for support, we collect data about you and your hardware and software, as well as other details related to the support incident. This data includes communication or authentication data, the content of your conversations and other communications with Microsoft support, data about the state of the machine and application when the error occurred and during diagnostics, and system and registry data about software installations and hardware configurations.
Interests and Favorites. We collect data about your interests and favorites, such as the teams you follow in sports apps, the stocks you track in finance apps, or the favorite cities you add to weather apps. In addition to the information you provide yourself, your interests and favorites may also be inferred or derived from other data we collect.
Contacts and relationships. We collect data about your contacts and relationships when you use a Microsoft product to manage contacts, communicate, or interact with other people or organizations.
Location Data. We collect data about your location, which may be precise or imprecise. Precise location data may be Global Positioning System (GPS) data, as well as data from nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi hotspots, which we collect when you enable location-based products or features. Inaccurate location data includes, for example, locations derived from your IP address or data that indicates where you are less precisely, such as at the city or postal code level.
Content. We collect content from your files and communications when necessary to provide the products you use. For example, if you receive an email message through Outlook.com or Exchange Online, we need to collect the content of that message in order to deliver it to your Inbox, display it to you, allow you to reply to it, and store it on your behalf until you choose to delete it. Examples of this data include: the content of your documents, photos, music, or videos that you upload to a Microsoft service like OneDrive, as well as the content of your communications sent or received using Microsoft products like Skype or Outlook.com, including:
- the subject line and body of an email message,
- the text or other content of an instant message,
- recording audio and video from a video message and
- the recording and transcription of a voice message you receive or a text message you dictate.
We also collect the content of messages you send to us, such as comments and reviews you write about the product, or questions and information you provide to customer support. When you contact us, for customer support for example, your phone conversations or chat sessions with our representatives may be monitored and recorded. If you visit our retail stores or other facilities, your image may be captured by our security cameras.
The product-specific sections below describe data collection practices that apply to the use of those products.”
