TLDR: Microsoft can (at least) correlate your Windows installation to all website domains you visit while using Windows.

It's unclear what the mechanism is, but I'd wager their "telemetry" is constantly revealing your installation ID, your current IP, and domains that were recently resolved.

Probably a capability demanded through a TCN or TAN as part of a mechanism like Australias Access and Assistance bill.

To me this indicates that Microsoft has some sort of traffic analysis performed on endpoints, then linked to GDID. I'd guess this is part of Defender's real time protection or MAPS.

Fun fact, Microsoft Defender MAPS was previously named SpyNet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Active_Protection_Se...

The GDID identifier seems software in nature though. They could be more aggressive and tie it to the baseboard's serial number the way some games do. Then the hardware is tracked throughout its entire lifecycle, not just per instance of Windows install.

Truly terrifying. But also shocking that a 'hacker' is using windows

My surprise level is at approximately... zero. Next we will see some news, that MS was compelled to share that info with some three letters. - Oh wait, that is exactly what has already happened, according to the article.

MS is just like that person, who drives a dagger into your back.

Well they can’t use that to track users of Linux.

I was a big fan of Microsoft ten to fifteen years ago. I’ve since transitioned my whole family off Microsoft products now over to Linux, Apple, and proton.

I really thought their corporate culture would’ve changed after the late 90’s but I guess this is a good lesson for founders. The culture you build into your company will likely outlast your tenure.