Microsoft stops hiring engineers from China to provide technical support to the US military
After a journalistic investigation and a sharp reaction in the US Senate and the Pentagon, Microsoft will stop engaging Chinese engineers for technical support of services used by the US military. About this informs Reuters.
It is about the material of the investigators of the ProPublica project, which describes in detail the practice of Microsoft involving Chinese engineers in the maintenance of cloud systems of the US Army. They were hired through subcontractors who had access to classified information but were said to often lack the technical expertise to adequately assess potential cyber threats from China.
Microsoft, as a major government contractor providing services to the US government, has previously suffered cyberattacks from Chinese and Russian hackers. During the investigations, the company informed the US government about its cooperation with Chinese specialists.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Armed Services Committee, responded to ProPublica’s publication. On Friday, July 18, he sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling for a list of Pentagon contractors that employ workers from China, as well as details about mechanisms for detecting suspicious cyber activity.
“The U.S. government recognizes that China’s cyber capabilities pose one of the most aggressive and dangerous threats to the United States, as evidenced by the penetration of our critical infrastructure, telecommunications networks, and supply chains.” Cotton wrote in a letter to Hegset.
The senator emphasized that the US military must be protected from all possible risks in the supply chain, including those arising from subcontractors. On the same day, Hegseth said in an address on the X platform that he had ordered a two-week review to ensure that engineers from China were not involved in contracts for cloud services of the US Department of Defense.
“I declare that from now on, China will no longer participate in any of our cloud services,” – emphasized the minister.
In response to the backlash from Congress and the Pentagon, Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said the company has changed its approach to technical support for US government customers. This is to ensure that no engineering team from China provides technical assistance within the services used by the Pentagon.
