Microsoft launches damage control ;code leaks from Israeli source

[MrPrax]

Microsoft launches damage control after code leaks from Israeli source

The developments in the affair of the leaking of the source code for the Windows operating system continue to make headlines around the world. Tuesday evening, Microsoft officially confirmed that the leak came from a computer at the Israeli Mainsoft software company; but at this stage, the investigation is still underway and no further details are available.

Microsoft is investigating the leak in coordination with the American Federal Bureau of Investigations, and when the probe is complete, Microsoft will publish its findings. Microsoft emphasized that the leak was not the result of a breach of Microsoft's network, nor was it caused by the open code programs under which Microsoft's code is given to big clients such as governments and strategic organizations. The code was given to Mainsoft just as it is given to other Microsoft business partners that are developing software based on Microsoft products.

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According to the various reports, the Mainsoft computer from which the code was leaked is the computer used by Eyal Alalouf, Mainsoft's director of technology, who has so far maintained media silence and is refusing to respond. Mainsoft is an Israeli start-up that develops software for converting Microsoft applications to run on the Unix operating system.

Mainsoft has already been responsible for one small scandal, when it was reported in 2000 that the company was developing software for converting Microsoft applications to run on the Linux open code operating system - a code that Microsoft refuses to support to this day, and which is considered the natural outgrowth of the Unix closed code. Mainsoft, whose headquarters are in San Jose, New Mexico, and whose R&D center is in Israel, has been a partner of Microsoft's since 1994. Mainsoft has disclosed only that it will cooperate fully with Microsoft and the authorities in investigating the leak. Microsoft and FBI investigators are due to arrive in Israel over the next few days to continue the investigation.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/395900.html

Yikes...
Posting additional 'Caveat' from LinuxJournal.com

Say "No, Thanks" to Offers of Illegal MS Source Code
As a reminder to our readers, we are repeating the same advice we published in 2000, the last time Microsoft's source code was compromised. Don't look at it or you could contaminate yourself legally.
http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7407&mode=thread&order=0