Washington, D.C. [US], July 19 (ANI): The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will conduct a two-week review of its digital infrastructure after Microsoft announced it would no longer use “China-based engineering teams” to provide technical support for DoD cloud services.
The move follows a ProPublica investigative report that alleged Microsoft had been relying on engineers in China to help maintain the Pentagon’s computer systems with minimal oversight from American personnel — potentially exposing sensitive national security data to cyberattacks from one of the United States’ primary adversaries.
In a video statement on Friday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the review after Microsoft’s Chief Communications Officer Frank Shaw confirmed the company’s decision to halt the use of China-based engineers for DoD support.
Shaw reiterated Microsoft’s commitment to security in a statement posted on X: “In response to concerns raised earlier this week about U.S.-supervised foreign engineers, Microsoft has made changes to our support for U.S. government customers to assure that no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance for DoD government cloud and related services. We remain committed to providing the most secure services possible to the U.S. government, including working with our national security partners to evaluate and adjust our security protocols as needed.”
In his address, Hegseth revealed the DoD had been alerted earlier this week to a potential security vulnerability stemming from the use of Chinese engineers by tech contractors. He referred to the ProPublica report and to a letter from Republican Senator Tom Cotton raising concerns about the practice.
Hegseth criticized what he called a “legacy system” dating back to the Obama administration: “Earlier this week, we were alerted to a potential vulnerability in our DoD computer systems, and we’ve been checking into it ever since. It turns out that some tech companies have been using cheap Chinese labor to assist with DoD cloud services. This is obviously unacceptable, especially in today’s digital threat environment. Now, this was a legacy system created over a decade ago during the Obama administration,” he said.
“But we have to ensure the digital systems that we use here at the Defense Department are ironclad and impenetrable. That’s why today I’m announcing that China will no longer have any involvement whatsoever in our cloud services, effective immediately. And at my direction, the Department will also initiate, as fast as we can, a two-week review — or faster — to make sure that what we uncovered isn’t happening anywhere else across the DoD. We will continue to monitor and counter all threats to our military infrastructure and online networks,” Hegseth added.
Concluding his remarks, Hegseth thanked journalists and others who brought the issue to light: “I want to thank all those Americans out there in the media and elsewhere who raised this issue to our attention so we could address it. And that’s why we’re talking to you today. As the president would say, thank you for your attention to this matter, and God bless our war fighters. I’m going to sign that memo right now, initiating that review.” (ANI)
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