Former Microsoft employee Alex Kibkalo, who was recently accused of stealing and leaking company trade secrets while working for the software giant, has pleaded guilty to the charges.
Although Kibkalo faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, according to a Seattle Times report, he reached a deal with federal prosecutors in which prosecutors are recommending a prison sentence of 3 months for him along with a payment of $22,500 in restitution to Microsoft.
Kibkalo is accused of stealing pre-release information about Windows 8 RT and Microsoft's Activation Server Software Development Kit, and leaking it to an unnamed French technology blogger in mid-2012. The former senior architect uploaded the documents to his personal SkyDrive (now OneDrive) account, and provided the links to the blogger.
Kibkalo's sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on July 1.
Earlier, Microsoft initiated an internal investigation after it came to know about the incident. The software giant searched through the blogger's Hotmail account and messenger logs to track down the leaker. The company came under fire for the snooping incident, and was left red faced especially because it had condemned Google for the same reasons in the past.
Soon after the revelation, Microsoft released a statement saying that the company would take several new steps to reassure users that their communications will be private.