This seems ... unwise. On a variety of levels.
It turns out Chinese engineers are helping maintain the Pentagon's computer systems.
No, really:
Isaac Stone Fish (@isaacstonefish) ~ No big deal, just Microsoft using engineers in China to help maintain the Defense Department’s computer systems. I couldn’t possibly imagine anything wrong with this.
Here's more from ProPublica (emphasis added):
Microsoft is using engineers in China to help maintain the Defense Department’s computer systems — with minimal supervision by U.S. personnel — leaving some of the nation’s most sensitive data vulnerable to hacking from its leading cyber adversary, a ProPublica investigation has found.
The arrangement, which was critical to Microsoft winning the federal government’s cloud computing business a decade ago, relies on U.S. citizens with security clearances to oversee the work and serve as a barrier against espionage and sabotage.
But these workers, known as “digital escorts,” often lack the technical expertise to police foreign engineers with far more advanced skills, ProPublica found. Some are former military personnel with little coding experience who are paid barely more than minimum wage for the work.
This is ridiculous. And an Obama-era policy.
Thanks, Barack!
Excel For Freelancers (@Excel4Freelance) ~ If this ProPublica investigation is accurate, this is a massive oversight. Trusting 'digital escorts' with minimal tech experience sounds like a recipe for disaster.
A huge recipe for disaster.
Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) ~ Someone must go to jail for this: engineers in China maintain the Pentagon’s computer systems.
EV_Trapper (@EV_Trapper) ~ Okay so, assuming that this is true, Microsoft is certainly violating the FAR here. This whole digital escort business even for what is deemed as confidential in term of classification should result in the total termination of Microsoft's Azure contract with the DOD. I'm not sure the DOD even needs Microsoft, Google or Amazon for that matter anymore & should just build it's own cloud.
Nobody should blame the Biden Admin though, this contract has been in place for awhile & it's Microsoft who is wrong here. As somebody who has intimate knowledge of said systems, this was very surprising to read. Every single person in Microsoft who worked on this should be charged with espionage & deported out of America with a lifetime ban.
There is a 1% chance that Microsoft told the US GOV about this & if so, then we can track which procurement officer signed off on it. They should also be charged with espionage & go to prison for life.
What Could POSSIBLY Go Wrong?! Turns Out CHINESE Engineers Help Maintain Pentagon Computer Systems
http://twitchy.com/amy-curtis/2025/07/16/chinese-engineers-manage-pentagon-computers-n2415732
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