Microsoft holds talks with teenage hacker

Microsoft has sat down to talk with Dimitri, the 19-year-old Dutch hacker who claimed he twice broke into the company's internal network last month.

Dimitri and two of his associates were invited to a meeting at Microsoft's Netherlands headquarters in Amsterdam last week following the teenager's claims that he had hacked into the company's web servers.

Michiel Gosens, PR manager for Microsoft in the Netherlands, confirmed three local Microsoft employees had attended the meeting but declined to reveal what was discussed.

He told vnunet.com: "We did meet Dimitri last week and two people he works with. We will not comment on the dialogue but it was a useful and constructive conversation."

Dimitri claimed he was able to gain access to Microsoft's web servers by exploiting a known vulnerability with Internet Information Server (IIS). The hacker said he had access to several other web servers and said it was possible for him to alter files or place Trojans on Microsoft's site.

A Microsoft spokeswoman had previously downplayed the hacker's claims. She said only one server had been compromised and that it had not been hosting active content. The server was recently retired and was only redirecting traffic, she claimed.