Microsoft on Friday said it will stop using China-based engineers to provide technical help to the US military after a report in investigative journalism outlet ProPublica sparked questions from a US senator and prompted Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to order a two-week review of Pentagon cloud deals.
The report detailed Microsoft’s use of Chinese engineers to work on US military cloud computing systems under the supervision of US “digital escorts” hired through subcontractors who have security clearances but often lacked the technical skills to assess whether the work of the Chinese engineers posed a cybersecurity threat.
Microsoft, a major contractor to the US government, has had its systems breached by Chinese and Russian hackers. It told ProPublica it disclosed its practices to the US government during an authorisation process.
On Friday, Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said on social media that the company was changing how it supported US government customers “in response to concerns raised earlier this week … to assure that no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance” for services used by the Pentagon.
Earlier on Friday, Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican who chairs the chamber’s intelligence committee and also serves on its armed services committee, sent a letter to Hegseth about Microsoft’s reported practices.
Cotton asked the US military for a list of contractors that use Chinese personnel and more information on how US “digital escorts” are trained to detect suspicious activity.
