Microsoft has ceased using China-based engineers to support U.S. Defense Department cloud systems, following a ProPublica investigation. Pentagon leadership and Congress reacted swiftly, prompting a two-week review of all such cloud contracts by Defense Secretary Hegseth.
Microsoft has announced that it will immediately stop using engineers based in China to support its cloud services for the U.S. military. The decision follows a ProPublica investigation that raised concerns over cybersecurity and triggered swift reactions from U.S. lawmakers and defence officials.
According to the exposé, engineers in China had access to Pentagon cloud systems through a little-known "digital escort" programme. In this setup, U.S.-based staff—often lacking sufficient expertise—were assigned to oversee remote sessions where Chinese engineers provided technical support, potentially exposing critical military infrastructure to risk.
The revelations drew sharp criticism from Senator Tom Cotton, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who demanded answers on contractor oversight and security protocols. In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a two-week review of all Defense Department cloud service contracts. He publicly declared that China would no longer be involved in any U.S. military cloud services.
Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw confirmed the policy change in a statement on X, stating that no China-based engineering teams would support Defense Department systems going forward.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory have been mocked by Iran's Deputy Foreign Ministe...
Five years ago today, Taliban fighters entered Kabul, completing a rapid takeover of Afghanistan as the former government collapsed....
For fishermen along Pakistan’s southwestern coast, the consequences of the U.S.-Iran conflict are being felt far from the battlefield....
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or rerouted at Catania Airport over the past week as ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing eruption continues to disrupt air travel in Sicily.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz remains under its control, rejecting U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of “total control” over the strategic waterway and insisting it will not reopen until Washington fulfils its commitments under an interim deal.
The U.S. will impose unprecedented measures on Iran in order to economically isolate the country, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory have been mocked by Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, who said the sea passage "cannot be seized by tweet."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised deepening ties with North Korea, saying Moscow and Pyongyang are coordinating their efforts to ensure “regional security and stability”.
Russia and Ukraine traded large-scale overnight attacks targeting energy, industrial and military facilities on Saturday, with a three-month-old baby killed and 11 people injured in a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
At least 47 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, triggering small tsunami waves and dozens of aftershocks, officials say.
Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor at the centre of a plagiarism row, has been found dead. He was appointed Cambridge's youngest ever Black professor in 2023, but quit on 5 August, after being accused of lifting passages from his PhD from the work of other academics.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment