Microsoft Looked Through Reporter's Hotmail And MSN Chat Accounts To Identify Windows 8 Leaker

[Oilwellian]

you'd think that for a company who's main marketing strategy these days is all about how it protects the privacy of your email account wouldn't then break into a user's email account. But that's exactly what Microsoft apparently did in tracking down the guy who leaked Windows 8 to a reporter. Alex Kibkalo, a software architect for Microsoft, sent a French blogger some Windows 8 code and the way to get around its anti-piracy measures. The French blogger posted screenshots and also emailed Microsoft for comment -- and that's when Microsoft apparently decided to throw its privacy promises out the window:

The engineer was caught after the blogger emailed Microsoft to confirm the authenticity of the leaked Windows 8 code. Investigators at the firm then reportedly looked through the blogger’s hotmail account and instant messenger chats to identify the source of the leak, and found an email from Kibaklo.

Of course, Hotmail today has morphed into Outlook.com, and the current ad campaign about it states: "Outlook.com prioritizes your privacy!" and "Your email is nobody else's business." Oh really? I guess Microsoft considers it their business. It's kind of astounding, first, that Microsoft did this, and second that they appear to openly admit that you have no privacy at all in your email if Microsoft suddenly decides it wants to dig through and dig up something.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140320/11315126635/microsoft-looked-through-reporters-hotmail-msn-chat-accounts-to-identify-windows-8-leaker.shtml

[MADem]

1. Yes, it was "wrong" for Microsoft to do that, let me preface my comments by saying that...

....but does anyone besides me think the reporter was kinda... duhhhhhh... DUMB to use a MICROSOFT email account to email MICROSOFT about a leak, after using the same MICROSOFT email account to talk with the leaker?

I mean, really...who in this day and age of hackers and nefariousness thinks that the good people at MICROSOFT would adhere to the Marquis of Queensberry rules?

[Egnever]

4. Duuuh dumb to be sure.

Microsoft covered their ass on this one though.

From the TOS on hotmail accounts. http://www.microsoft.com/privacystatement/en-us/core/default.aspx?Componentid=pspOtherInformationModule&View=Description

Sharing or Disclosing Personal Information

We also may share or disclose personal information, including the content of your communications:
To comply with the law or respond to legal process or lawful requests, including from law enforcement and government agencies.
To protect the rights or property of Microsoft or our customers, including enforcing the terms governing your use of the services.
To act on a good faith belief that access or disclosure is necessary to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees, customers or the public.

[MADem]

9. HA! Read the fine fricken print!

Yep--no harm, no foul....even if it was a shitty thing to do!

I guess this guy needs to NOT use the MICROSOFT account to collect information from sources. He'd be better off using the old Terra Terra Terra technique, where two people share a yahoo account, one writes a draft message and logs off, the other one logs on, reads the draft message, cuts/pastes it to clipboard if needed...and then deletes it. Probably would have been a more secure method!!!

[Oilwellian]

5. Yes, it's so silly to expect our Constitutional rights to be taken seriously...

I guess Gates thought if the government can break the law, Microsoft can too!

[MADem]

8. This has nothing to do with "Constitutional rights."

MICROSOFT are not elected officials. They aren't "the government."

It's hacking, it is "corporate espionage," it's a couple of executives being shits to find out who ratted the company out...but it has nothing to do with the government. And I'll bet a dozen donuts they didn't run their decision to hack this guy's email past Bill Gates, either.

I would wager that they would have done this regardless of any news reports of governmental spying, surveillance or monitoring.

[Oilwellian]

10. Reading one's personal mail used to require a warrant

I didn't see a warrant mentioned in the article, did you?

[MADem]

11. Not your email.

MICROSOFT indemnified themselves.

And the punishments for "hacking"--even if MICROSOFT didn't have that clever little "check the box to say you've read and agree to the terms and conditions" thing-a-ma-bob--ain't the same as the penalties for mail fraud.

No warrant was needed because the HOTMAIL account users AGREE that MICROSOFT can read their mail if they think there's evidence of corporate malfeasance contained therein.

The reporter a)was stupid, and b) doesn't have a case.

He should have known better. That's the point I am making, here.

It's rather like trusting the fox to guard your henhouse.

[Jesus Malverde]

6. No kidding..nt

[OilemFirchen]

2. UNPOSSIBLE!

Next you'll be telling us that First Look Media uses tracking cookies.

Not in MY Amurikha, goddamnit!

[jsr]

3. Recommend

[ffr]

12. Most end-users I know of feel like kindergartners on Win 8

You could give it away and I wouldn't use it. Windows XP was their best offering. Proved to be as well. Maybe too good, because they have to end support for it to get reluctant users to move on. It's the only way M$ can make money. Unfortunately what they're offering is completely backwards; a cumbersome OS that requires more steps to do what was simple before, not to mention their psychotic practice of renaming objects. "I wonder what stuff in Control Panel will be called next time?" Your guess is as good as mine.

That's not better, that's just different. Win 8/8.1 can be skipped.

[Egnever]

14. Sorry but win 7 blows away XP

amd windows 8.1 is excellent if you can get over your shock of a different start menu.

It couldn't be easier. All you have to do is type what you want from the start screen and it appears. Doesn't get much easier than that.

[ffr]

17. Sorry? What are you sorry for, stating your opinion?

If I have to do more than two keystrokes to type something that should have been an icon that I could single click or a keyboard shortcut that I could prompt, that by definition, would not be easier. You're probably foreign to keyboard shortcuts, which if you've ever seen someone using Wordperfect to its capacity, which used to be most everyone, was like watching productivity in its purest form.

See, it's about productivity and always has been. Unfortunately, Micro$oft lost sight of that as the goal. They're more interested in telling 80% of the market to stop doing things the way they've done them for years and start doing them the way that 4% of the market has been doing it, like with Charms, doing away with keyboard shortcuts, doing away with features that make people more productive with their devices.

I am not going to type a letter to my computer every day for every thing I want. There should be an icon or a keyboard shortcut or something that facilitates productivity. And while I have had some users say they're getting used to Win 8 for playing videos and games, when I ask them if it makes them more productive, they stop and think. I'm thinking not.

[Egnever]

18. typing a letter?

I am not sure what you mean by that. You seem to think keyboard shortcuts are a good thing. I am not sure i understand the difference between control - c and typing word or hell just wor to open word. seems like pretty much the same thing.

[Egnever]

15. They wont get sued.

They covered this exact situation in their TOS agreement.