Microsoft, which documented the “confidence” violation, has issued a “written concern” regarding the use of engineers based in China to maintain sensitive state computer systems, said Defense Minister Pete Hegset. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense opens an investigation into whether national security has suffered.
Actions came in response to A recent PROPUBLICA investigation This exposed the Microsoft digital support system, in which US security officers control foreign engineers, including China. PROPUBLICA has found that accompaniment often lacks the experience required to effectively control engineers with much more sophisticated technical skills.
The technological giant has developed an agreement as a working department demanding that people who apply to sensitive data be US citizens or permanent residents.
“The program has been designed to comply with the rules of contracts, but it is subjected Said in a video posted on X. “If you think about America at first and common sense, it does not pass any of these tests.”
The letter serves as a warning to Microsoft said in Reports on income that he gets “significant profit from government contracts”. This is less serious than the “treatment” notice, which may stop Microsoft’s contracts if the problems are not corrected. The Department did not release the letter publicly, and he did not respond to PROPBLICA’s request for his copy.
Experts have said that it will allow staff based in China to provide technical support and maintenance of US state computer systems, and creates basic safety risks. Laws in China are providing extensive data collection powers to officials, and experts say that any citizen of China or the company is difficult to resist a direct request for security forces or law enforcement agencies.
HEGSET said a recently open investigation of the Pentagon in the digital support program will focus on Microsoft’s Chinese staff. The probe “will help us to determine the impact of this digital accompaniment,” he said, or “they put something in the code we didn’t know.”
HEGSET said in his video announcement that the department also requires a new Microsoft digital audit audit. It is unclear who will hold this audit.
Microsoft started using digital accompaniment about ten years ago, Propublica found and continued to win the federal business rate worth the billions of dollars. Through the Obama, Trump and Biden administration, the system has escaped the Pentagon officials. Last week PROPUBLICA reported that Microsoft Failed to disclose key details of the arrangement in security plans He submitted to the Ministry of Defense. The company refused to comment on these inaction.
“We expect suppliers running a business with the Ministry of Defense to put us national security before maximizing profits,” Hugset said in the video.
Following the reporting PROPBLICA Microsoft announced last month, which ceased to use the engineers based in China to support the cloud defense system systems. In a statement stipulated by this story, the company stated that “it will continue to cooperate with the US government to make sure we justify their expectations.”
“We still strive to provide the safest services for the US government, including working with our national security partners to evaluate and adjust our security protocols as needed,” the company said.
In addition to China, Microsoft has operations in India, the European Union and other places around the world, and engineers in these places are also working on a cloud protection.
Last month of Gegset said on x What “foreign engineers – from any country, including in China – never allow to support or access DOD systems.” But last week, in response to the propublica questions, the Ministry of Defense left the door open for further use of foreign engineers with digital support, saying that “may be considered an acceptable risk”, depending on the factors that include the “country of foreign citizen’s origin”.
In his message, HegSeth did not mention whether the support program will continue, or say whether Microsoft’s dependence on other foreign citizens will be considered to maintain computer defense systems. The Department did not answer the propublica questions seeking additional information about new investigations.
PROPUBLICA reports last month Microsoft also relied on its staff based in China to support federal cloud computing systems outside the Ministry of Defense, including the Department of Justice, Treasury and Trade. In response to the Microsoft report, it suggested that it also stopped using the engineers based in China for these agencies.
In a message this week, Hegset said the Defense Department was working “with our partners in other federal governments to protect all US networks.”
