Ex-Microsoft employee arrested for stealing Windows 8 code

A former Microsoft employee has been arrested on suspicion of stealing Windows 8 code and screenshots. The man is said to have provided the business secrets to a French blogger in mid-2012, before the release of Windows 8.

The man was arrested in Seattle on Wednesday and will appear before the District Court in that city on suspicion of theft of trade secrets. The software architect allegedly leaked the code because he was angry about a bad review. The man was suspected after he bragged on an internet forum about providing the data to the blogger.

He is not only suspected of stealing Windows 8 code, but also code from the ‘Activation Server Software Development Kit’, with which Microsoft tries to prevent the unauthorized copying of its programs. The code would allow the protection software to be reverse engineered. The ex-employee allegedly urged the blogger to distribute the code so that internet users could crack the security of Microsoft products, according to Seattle Pi in the indictment. The blogger sent the code to another Microsoft employee for verification in September 2012; that staff member then approached management.

In addition, the software architect would have leaked internal memos and other documents. Presumably, the man also leaked screenshots: the French blogger published these before Windows 8 was released in October 2012. The suspect would also have bragged about stealing Windows 7 secrets.