Arrest of secret-leaking ex-Microsoftie raises Hotmail privacy concerns (Updated)

A former Microsoft employee has been arrested and is now facing accusations that he stole trade secrets from the software giant. Alex Kibkalo allegedly leaked pre-release updates for Windows RT and a Microsoft-internal Activation Server SDK to a French blogger.

Russian national Kibkalo worked for Microsoft both in Russia and in the company’s Lebanon office. Angered by a poor performance review, he retaliated against the company by leaking its software, according to the FBI’s criminal complaint. Kibkalo shared the information with an unspecified French blogger, encouraging that blogger to seek a hacker’s guidance in using the activation SDK to create a fake activation server.

The FBI claims in the complaint that the blogger posted screenshots of the unreleased software and attempted to sell Windows Server activation keys on eBay.

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