A former Microsoft software architect has pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets, including parts of the Windows 8 source code. Under a plea agreement with prosecutors earlier this week, Alex A. Kibkalo faces a recommended sentence of three months in prison, and must pay $22,500 in restitution to Microsoft.
Kibkalo was charged with leaking the confidential information to a French blogger. The case stirred controversy when court documents showed that Microsoft had searched that blogger’s Hotmail account as part of its own internal investigation into the leak. Microsoft subsequently changed its policies to say it will refer such cases to law enforcement first in the future.
The plea agreement was reported earlier by Computerworld. Here’s the full text of the deal from the court file.