How Microsoft Tracked Down Trade Secret Leaking Employee

Ed Bott:

Four days later, on September 7, 2012, the FBI says Microsoft acted:

The source indicated that the blogger contacted the source using a Microsoft Hotmail e-mail address that TWCI had previously connected to the blogger. After confirmation that the data was Microsoft’s proprietary trade secret, on September 7, 2012 Microsoft’s Office of Legal Compliance (OLC) approved content pulls of the blogger’s Hotmail account. [emphasis added]

Those email messages in turn led to instant messaging conversations and links to files shared on SkyDrive. Every piece of data was stored on Microsoft servers using an account allegedly linked to Kibkalo.

Microsoft is taking a serious PR hit on the privacy implications of this. They’ve been telling us for years that they don’t read our email (unlike Google), but now it turns out they do, if they think we’re using it to leak Windows source code.

They nailed a guy who was flat-out stealing from them. I’m not even saying they were wrong to do it — I’m simply questioning whether it was worth it.

★ Thursday, 20 March 2014