Will your anonymity be compromised if you use Tor with Windows 8?

I've heard rumors about a backdoor on Windows 8 that allows the NSA to see everything you do on Windows 8 in real time. Is this true or not? If this is true, then it doesn't matter that you use Tor because they can still see everything you do in real time.

 

If this were true I expect someone with wireshark on a pc down the line would have produced logs by now and there would be no question. If it's a door that only 'opened on command' however it could be harder to track down and I will not say that it does not exist.

 

Well, such a channel would use innocuous servers, and it would be encrypted.

It might even be covertly encoded on legitimate Microsoft connections.

 

It is not true, and you can check it yourself with a sniffer. If Win8 would send real time info about your activities it would have to send data to a server all the time, and that doesn't happen.

 

While there's probably no obvious "backdoors" in any version of any Windows OS, there's plenty of exploits. That's why the Tails distro exists, so that you can operate from a clean OS.

 

In real time? I doubt it. There are too many researchers, hackers and others monitoring network traffic that Windows produces. It would get noticed by someone and MS would probably have to close it's business. Exploits are possible but they usually get closed when they get public.

 

windows 8 tries to force you to create a Microsoft account for use with Windows Store and various apps. I suppose this could compromise your anonymity, but you can either switch to a local account (or install Windows 8 without internet connection to start off with a local account), or just disable all the apps and services that want to dial home.

 

Here are some options to install Windows 8 without Microsoft account: http://www.infobyte.hr/blog/337/win...out-microsoft-account-skip-microsoft-account/
I use method 1.

 

As I've opined before, the anonymity provided by any OS is limited by what it knows about you. It's not prudent to rely on assumptions, workarounds or whatever. If the OS knows who you are, it's safest to assume that it shares your identity with others.

So, if you have obtained your Windows 8 anonymously, and never contaminate it with information about your identity, it's safe to use it with Tor. Otherwise, it's not.