Alex Kibkalo, a former Microsoft software engineer, was arrested in Seattle on Wednesday for allegedly leaking Windows 8 to a blogger prior to its release in 2012, according to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Kibkalo sent a build of Windows 8 and a matching software activation kit to a French tech blogger, who then posted screenshots of the software online.
Kibkalo, who worked for Microsoft for years in Russia and Lebanon, allegedly leaked the software in 2012 in response to a bad performance review, Redmond believes. The FBI opened an investigation into the leak in July 2013. Kibkalo was arrested after the blogger he leaked the data to contacted Microsoft to confirm the authenticity of the leak. Upon obtaining the blogger’s email and instant messaging records, investigators found messages where Kibkalo encouraged the blogger to not only publish information, but distribute a cracked version of the OS.
“I would leak enterprise today probably,” Kibkalo said according to a message from August, 2012 reportedly shown in Kibkalo’s arrest report.
“Hmm… Are you sure you want to do that? Lol,” said the blogger, who explicitly warns Kibkalo that handing over the information was “pretty illegal”. Kibkalo allegedly responded with “I know :)”
Kibkalo has also allegedly been connected to earlier pre-release leaks of chunks of Windows 7. In a conversation with the French blogger, he also allegedly bragged about breaking into a building on Microsoft’s Redmond, WA campus to copy data from a company server.
Kibkalo is expected to appear in U.S. district court next week, facing charges of stealing trade secrets.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.