Inside Microsoft Headquarters: Innovation, Cyber-Crime Lab on Display

A tour of Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., headquarters finds not only the typical office fare, but some surprises, including maker workshops and cyber-crime labs.

Without it, don’t expect to get far. Also, wandering around unescorted is ill-advised.

Located in Building 27, the Garage is where some of the company’s most innovative work on cross-platform apps is being done.

A short distance down the hall from the Garage is a do-it-yourselfer’s dream. In this maker workshop, which is open 24/7, Microsoft employees can work on their projects using 3D printers, laser cutting equipment and other high-tech tools.

Nestled in the area of the campus that high-level executives frequent is RedWest A. It may look like the typical lobby at the company, but it’s the first to have been adorned with Microsoft’s new logo, which was designed in the very same building.

One of Microsoft’s most eye-grabbing facilities is its Cybercrime Center. Here, Microsoft spared no expense to show visitors how it’s fighting malware, botnets and software pirates.

Here, Microsoft runs honeypots, purposely unprotected or unpatched systems, to study the latest techniques malware coders are using.

In the Cybercrime Center, security researchers can explore how malware spreads on a video wall. Here, David Finn, associate general counsel and executive director of Microsoft’s Cybercrime Center, shows how the Citadel botnet sprang up.

Inside Building 99, researchers work on some of Microsoft’s most cutting-edge and hush-hush technologies, some of which may never see the light of day as a commercialized product. Here, David Brown, senior research software development engineer, shows off a prototype, touch-enabled 3D data visualization technology dubbed NUI (natural user interface) Graph.