The company's legal department determined that it had the right to go through a private email account, citing a leak of proprietary Microsoft code. by Charles Cooper and Seth Rosenblatt March 20, 2014 12:28 PM PDT Microsoft went through a blogger's Hotmail account in order to trace the identity of a source who allegedly leaked trade secrets. A court filing reveals that the company's Office of Legal Compliance approved the decision after confirming that the leaked data in question included proprietary Microsoft code. Federal prosecutors charge that Alex Kibkalo, a former Microsoft employee in Lebanon and Russia, used his Hotmail account to transmit a Windows 8 software development kit to an unnamed blogger. We've asked Microsoft for comment and will update the post when we have more information. The court filing reads, in part: The blogger was known to those in the Microsoft blogging community for posting screenshots of prerelease versions of the Windows Operating System...The blogger later started posting Microsoft news and information to his own Web sites. The blogger used his Twitter account to post comments about internal Microsoft build specifications for unreleased software and news relating to his latest postings. The blogger deliberately hid his identity stating falsely that he was from Quebec, and ensured that key identifying information was not posted. Kibkalo worked for Microsoft for seven years, according to the filing. In 2012, Kibkalo was said to have received "a poor performance review and threatened to resign if the review was not amended," before he left the company. Legally, Microsoft appears to be protected by its privacy policies. The policy for Outlook.com, formerly Hotmail, states that, "We may access information about you, including the content of your communications...to protect the rights or property of Microsoft."
The company's legal department determined that it had the right to go through a private email account, citing a leak of proprietary Microsoft code.
March 20, 2014 12:28 PM PDT
Microsoft went through a blogger's Hotmail account in order to trace the identity of a source who allegedly leaked trade secrets.
A court filing reveals that the company's Office of Legal Compliance approved the decision after confirming that the leaked data in question included proprietary Microsoft code.
Federal prosecutors charge that Alex Kibkalo, a former Microsoft employee in Lebanon and Russia, used his Hotmail account to transmit a Windows 8 software development kit to an unnamed blogger.
We've asked Microsoft for comment and will update the post when we have more information.
The court filing reads, in part:
The blogger was known to those in the Microsoft blogging community for posting screenshots of prerelease versions of the Windows Operating System...The blogger later started posting Microsoft news and information to his own Web sites. The blogger used his Twitter account to post comments about internal Microsoft build specifications for unreleased software and news relating to his latest postings. The blogger deliberately hid his identity stating falsely that he was from Quebec, and ensured that key identifying information was not posted.
Kibkalo worked for Microsoft for seven years, according to the filing. In 2012, Kibkalo was said to have received "a poor performance review and threatened to resign if the review was not amended," before he left the company.
Legally, Microsoft appears to be protected by its privacy policies. The policy for Outlook.com, formerly Hotmail, states that, "We may access information about you, including the content of your communications...to protect the rights or property of Microsoft."
