Microsoft worker hacked AltaVista Microsoft worker hacked AltaVista p2pnet.net News:- Ex-AltaVista computer engineer Laurent Chavet "unlawfully accessed" AV's Trek systems and copied source code used to "scour" the Net to his home computer, says the FBI. That was in March, 2002, it says, continuing that Chavet again hacked Trek that June and "caused damages in excess of $5,000". Chavet, born in France, is now under arrest and three people "with knowledge of Chavet's Microsoft employment confirmed that he has been working on the MSN Search effort," says a Seattle Post-Intelligencer story here. Microsoft has been head-to-head with Google and Yahoo in the Search Engine stakes and Israel's Walla has just joined the race. Company spokeswoman Tami Begasse referred questions about the criminal investigation to the FBI, says the Intelligencer. "Microsoft declined to comment on whether Chavet had incorporated source code in MSN's revamped search," says The Register here. "Arch-rival Yahoo! acquired AltaVista and AllTheWeb.com when it acquired classified ads leader Overture in a deal worth $1.6bn last year." The Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Unit of the US Attorney's Office is handling the prosecution, says the FBI. (Monday 12th July 2004)
