Microsoft tracks every Windows PC through a secret key
Microsoft embeds a persistent Global Device Identifier (GDID) into every Windows installation to uniquely track specific OS instances. This 64-bit identifier is generated by Microsoft servers and stored locally within the registry under the LID entry in the I…
The existence of this identifier gained public attention after it was used by the FBI to apprehend a suspect in a high-profile jewelry store hacking case. Despite the suspect’s use of VPNs and proxie… [+881 chars]