[Insert distasteful joke here regarding Windows Phone 7 lack of upgrade path to WinPhone 8]
Athens saw daylight a little earlier than normal today. At approximately 4:45 AM local time, arsonists rammed a van laden with gas cans into the front of Microsoft’s Greek HQ and set it ablaze. According to a Reuters’ report, the security guards were held at gunpoint, but also away from the fire. No one was injured in the attack.
Videos and pictures show Microsoft’s HQ are still intact although heavily damaged. “Staff were told not to come to work today, and probably also tomorrow,”Lia Komninou, Microsoft spokeswoman, said on Skai TV today.
The police have not yet named suspects.
[Something something something people still sore over Windows Vista]
Matt Burns is a longtime technology journalist, now Editorial Director at Insight Media Group and formerly Managing Editor at TechCrunch. At Insight Media Group, he guides coverage and contributor programs across fast-growing tech publications. Before that, he spent 15+ years at TechCrunch, rising from contributor to Managing Editor, helping scale the newsroom and program Disrupt’s stages and TechCrunch’s other events. Earlier, he also wrote for Engadget. Matt co-founded the Resilience Conference, an event series at the intersection of defense, security, and startup innovation. There he builds agendas, hosts sessions, and launched “Launch @ Resilience,” a showcase for early-stage teams building nation-defending technology. Across roles, he’s reported on and moderated conversations in AI, mobility, frontier tech, and the hard problems technology companies face. He’s interviewed world leaders, top investors, startup founders, and public-company CEOs. Lifelong Michiganian with plenty of Silicon Valley miles, he brings Midwest empathy and an editor’s eye. Offstage, he works with teams to sharpen narrative and validate go-to-market plans, and, when possible, camping along Lake Michigan.