While admitting its corporate networks fell prey to a hacker attack, Microsoft denies reports that intruders accessed source code for its major operating system products Microsoft released a statement Friday saying hackers did not actually steal Windows code. Our investigation shows no evidence that the intruder gained access to the source code for our major products, such as Windows Me, Windows 2000, or Office. Computerworld Minute Microsoft's statement is nothing more than an attempt to diminish its embarrassment, says Jeffrey Tarter, editor and publisher of Softletter. Once a hacker opens a file, I don't think there's any way Microsoft could know whether the code was downloaded or what had been done to it. While Windows source code would clearly be a valuable steal, it is unclear what kind of damage, other than illegal distribution, would result from this particular hack.
Initial reports say the hacked information was sent to a site in Russia.
It'd be a wonderful excuse for bugs Microsoft could use for the next two or three years. And if Windows source code appears on Web bulletin boards and chat rooms, so much the better, according to Tarter. Security experts say if Microsoft suspects a hacker could have manipulated source code, the company would have to painstakingly check code against changes logged by authorized programmers-a process that could take months. The source code for Microsoft programs like the Windows operating system is under more or less constant modification by Microsoft's team, as it looks for errors and work on upgrades, says Russ Cooper, the moderator for an online forum for computer security, NTBugTraq. Changes in source code would have a ripple effect, he notes.