India may see less secure version of Windows 2000

BANGALORE: Microsoft will be forced to introduce a less secure version of

its much talked about operating system, Windows 2000, due for launch on February

17.

The US sanctions on India, imposed immediately after India conducted Nuclear

tests in 1998, restricts the export of software that offers 128 bit encryption

facility. Software with only 48 bit encryption features can be exported to

nations that face such sanctions.

This law has forced Microsoft to disable the feature in its latest operating

system for India and about 50 other countries on whom US has similar sanctions.

The 128 bit encryption is considered to be the safest level of encryption for

data transfer. The higher the bits available for encryption the safer it is to

send data across.