Microsoft have reported that a hacker gained access to their computer system for around 12 days and not five weeks as originally stated. No major corporate secrets were stolen, however they are not sure yet whether this hacker has done any damage to their system.

A Microsoft spokesperson stated that the hacker did gain access to high-level security secrets on October 14 and also viewed blueprints and source code being developed by Microsoft, however they had been monitoring this illegal activity all the time.

They became alerted to the fact that they had an unwanted visitor when new accounts were being created giving users access to parts of the Microsoft computer network. At first they thought it was a problem with the system. After around two days they identified that it was in fact an electronic intruder and that they also could have gained access to e-mails containing confidential information. The spokesperson stated that there did not appear to be any attempts made at corrupting or modifying source code or even downloading or transferring information as none of this activity was recorded in Microsoft's logs.

However, one expert did question this statement by commenting that if someone had access for around 12 days it is possible that source code could have been copied and they could have even done some damage that Microsoft may not be aware of.

Today, major organisations are meeting to discuss the growing concerns of security over the internet and how to protect systems from unwanted visitors.