Last Friday, following an investigative report by ProPublica, Microsoft announced that stop using Chinese engineers’ assistance in technical support for matters related to the U.S military. The pullback came as a shock to Americans. Why was it even happening in the first place?
Microsoft’s decision came after the report by ProPublica explained how Chinese Engineers’ services were being taken for U.S military cloud computing systems under the supervision of American “digital escorts” who had security clearances but often lacked the technical skills to assess cybersecurity risks properly.
The controversy came to light when Senator Tom Cotton demanded answers from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about Microsoft’s shocking arrangement. Senator Cotton, in his letter, demanded an explanation on using engineers from the country, which is seen as one of America’s most dangerous cyber threats. The arrangement does seem like a spy thriller where the U.S. military’s cybersecurity is being operated by China’s engineers, the very country that is considered America’s biggest cyber threat.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in response, announced a Pentagon-wide review and declared the annulment of Chinese engineers’ services in America’s cloud-based computing systems at once.
It’s quite interesting to note that Microsoft, the company in collaboration with the U.S military, in the country’s cybersecurity and cloud computing, had itself faced cyber breaches from Chinese and Russian hackers, yet went on to onboard Chinese Engineers for an assignment this sensitive.
The story sheds light on a stark reality here about how America handles national security in this digital age. As Microsoft had claimed that it had taken the U.S government into confidence during the authorization process, signaling that the government was in on this bizarre idea.
While politicians rail about Chinese threats and TikTok bans, one of the Pentagon’s biggest contractors was quietly using Chinese engineers to work on military cloud systems. The “digital escort” system sounds like Security Theater, having cleared personnel babysit foreign engineers without the technical expertise to understand what they’re actually doing.
Even more troublesome is not the fact that it happened, but that it took this long to come to light and the consequent annulment. This means that had it taken a report like this to come a little or much later, this arrangement would have kept working in full swing.
Microsoft’s quick reversal shows they knew this was problematic all along. The fact that they can immediately stop using Chinese engineers suggests this wasn’t about technical necessity; it was about cost-cutting that prioritized efficiency over security.
