MS Employee Busted For Hacking Into Altavista

I guess the stakes for Search are higher than I thought:

Man arrested in hacking case is Microsoft employee

July 9, 2004

SEATTLE - A newspaper reports that a man charged with hacking into an Internet search company in California works on search engine development for Microsoft.
Microsoft officials confirmed yesterday that Laurent Chavet works for the company, but they would not specify his assignment.

He was arrested last week after being indicted in San Francisco on federal charges of unauthorized access and reckless damage to a protected computer.

The charges stem from 2002, when Chavet left the search company AltaVista to work for IBM.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports today that three sources with knowledge of his work at Microsoft have confirmed that he now is on the MSN Search team.

Assistant U.S. attorney Christopher Sonderby says none of the accusations in the indictment against Chavet pertain to Microsoft.

In addition, FBI agent Greg in Seattle says no computers have been seized from Microsoft in the case.

Microsoft officials will not discuss the case, citing company personnel policies.

Source: http://www.katu.com/printstory.asp?ID=69082