Microsoft Acknowledges Looking
Inside Blogger’s Hotmail Inbox And Reading IM To Track Source Of Leaked Company
Information
By Kukil Bora
on March 21 2014 3:32 AM
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) admitted Thursday that it
had read the contents of a blogger's Hotmail inbox
in an effort to identify an employee who was suspected of leaking confidential
company information.
According to John Frank, deputy general
counsel for Microsoft, the company “took extraordinary actions in this case,”
and would consult an outside attorney to confirm the legality of the action,
which came to light as part of a lawsuit filed against a former Microsoft
employee, Alex Kibalko, a Russian native based in the company's Lebanon office.
Microsoft claims it found, in September
2012, that Kibalko was allegedly leaking proprietary code from its Windows 8
operating system, which was not yet released at the time, after examining the
Hotmail account of the blogger, who later posted screenshots of the unreleased
OS on his blog.
“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,” according to FBI agent Armando Ramirez, cited by Associated Press.
The email search, which took place months
before Ramirez received the results of Microsoft’s internal investigation in
July 2013, revealed that Kibalko shared fixes for the Windows 8 RT OS and a
software development kit, which could be exploited by hackers to better
understand how Microsoft uses product keys to activate software.
In addition to the email search, Microsoft
also read instant messages exchanged between Kibalko and the blogger whose
identity was not revealed. The company also admitted to scanning through files
in Kibalko's cloud-storage account.
A BBC report said
Friday that the search by Microsoft was legal because it fell within the
company’s terms of service, which allows the company to access information in
accounts that are stored on its “Communication Services,” which include email,
chat areas, forums and other communication features.
Recently, Microsoft has, along with other
technology companies, taken a stand against intrusions into customer accounts,
following NSA whistleblower Edward
Snowden's disclosure of instances of the U.S. government spying on users’
online activities.
Microsoft Corporation
Hotmail is
a webmail service for the Microsoft Corporation.
Note: National
Security Agency (NSA) was a
grant recipient from the Microsoft Corporation.
Edward
Snowden leaked information about the National Security Agency
(NSA), and an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz
Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Robert
S. Osborne is the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen
Hamilton, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Cyrus
F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and was a managing director for Booz Allen
Hamilton.
Pete
Higgins is a trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and was a group VP for the Microsoft
Corporation.
William
H. Gates III is a co-founder & technology adviser & director for
the Microsoft Corporation, and a co-chair
for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Microsoft
Corporation was a funder for the Brookings Institution
(think tank), and the Center for American
Progress.
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank), the Center for American
Progress, the Committee for Economic
Development, and the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Center for
American Progress, the Committee for Economic
Development, and the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society, a supporter for the Center for
American Progress, and is a board member for the International Crisis Group.
Christopher
Patten was a co-chair for the International Crisis Group,
and is the chairman for the BBC Trust.
BBC is the
governing body for the BBC Trust.
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was a funder for the Center for American Progress, and is the lobby firm for the Boeing Company.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is a
senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer
& Feld, LLP, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American
Friends of Bilderberg (think
tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Valerie
B. Jarrett is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
W.
James McNerney Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company.
Boeing
Company is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Barbara
G. Fast was a VP at the Boeing Company,
a VP for the CGI Group Inc., and is a friend of
Keith B. Alexander.
CGI
Group Inc. was the Obamacare
contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
Donna S.
Morea was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.,
and a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development.
Raymond
V. Gilmartin is a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, and was a director at the Microsoft
Corporation.
Mary
Agnes Wilderotter is a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, and was a SVP for the Microsoft
Corporation.
Keith
B. Alexander is a friend of Barbara G. Fast,
and director at the National Security Agency
(NSA), and a U.S. Army
general.
Ann E.
Dunwoody is a U.S. Army 4-star general, the commander for the
U.S. Army Materiel Command, and a
member of the Belizean Grove.
Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, U.S. Army
Materiel Command commanding general
June 2, 2010
Joanne
R. Harrell is a member of the Belizean Grove,
and a senior director, e-government programs for the Microsoft
Corporation.
Kimberly
Till is a member of the Belizean Grove,
and was a VP for the Microsoft Corporation.
Mary
Agnes Wilderotter is a member of the Belizean
Grove, and was a SVP for the Microsoft Corporation.
Henrietta
Holsman Fore is a member of the Belizean
Grove, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
Henry A. Kissinger
is a member of the Bohemian Club,
a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute
(think tank), and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Lester Crown
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank).
Ann
McLaughlin Korologos was the chair emeritus at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a
director at the Microsoft Corporation.
Mary
Agnes Wilderotter was a SVP for the Microsoft Corporation,
and is Denise M. Morrison’s sister.
Denise
M. Morrison is Mary Agnes Wilderotter’s
sister, and a member of the President's Export Council.
W.
James McNerney Jr. is the chairman for the President's
Export Council, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing
Company.
Boeing
Company is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Madelyn
Payne Dunham was an aircraft inspector for the Boeing
Company, and Barack Obama’s
maternal grandmother.
Barack Obama’s
maternal grandmother was Madelyn Payne Dunham,
and an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N.
Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden Martin
is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the
president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Robert
S. Osborne is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz
Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Edward
Snowden was an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton,
and leaked information about the National Security Agency
(NSA).
National
Security Agency (NSA) was a
grant recipient from the Microsoft Corporation.
Hotmail is
a webmail service for the Microsoft Corporation.
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