The US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced on Wednesday (August 27) the termination of Chinese employees’ participation in the maintenance and service of the Department of Defense’s cloud system. He also called for an emergency review of the digital systems within the Department of Defense. A report by the investigative media outlet “ProPublica” in July revealed that Microsoft had employed Chinese engineers over the past decade under the “digital escorts” program to provide technical support, maintenance, and code-related work for the Pentagon’s cloud system.
In his statement, Hegseth stated that the Pentagon has abolished the “digital escorts” program and sent an official letter to Microsoft condemning the company’s hiring of Chinese engineers for services as a “breach of trust.” He has requested a third-party audit of all operations conducted by Microsoft in the program, including checking code and content submitted by Chinese engineers.
Hegseth emphasized that immediate actions have been taken by the Department of Defense to ensure that “China will immediately be completely excluded from our cloud services.” He has also ordered a review to be conducted within two weeks or sooner to ensure similar issues do not arise in other systems.
This vulnerability stems from an old system established during the Obama administration over a decade ago, as Hegseth stated. The US side will investigate whether Chinese engineers “have inserted content into the code without our knowledge.”
Hegseth stated that excluding Chinese personnel from sensitive systems is “common sense,” yet he pointed out that “some tech companies have been using cheap Chinese labor to assist in operating the Department of Defense’s cloud services. This is clearly unacceptable, especially in the current digital threat environment.”
He also instructed all software suppliers to terminate any involvement of Chinese nationals in the Department of Defense systems. Hegseth said, “We expect suppliers partnering with the Department of Defense to prioritize national security before seeking to maximize profit. The Department of Defense must ensure that the digital systems used are invincible and unbreakable.”
Hegseth mentioned that these measures aim to prevent sensitive military information from foreign interference. He stressed that the US government places high importance on digital security and will continue to monitor cooperation with foreign partners to safeguard national interests.
Hegseth did not provide further details on the cloud vulnerability.
According to ProPublica, Microsoft had used Chinese engineers to help manage the Department of Defense systems. The “digital escorts” set up by the US was originally intended to oversee the work of Chinese engineers. However, at times lacking sufficient technical expertise, they were unable to properly supervise, which reportedly could lead to the exposure of the Department of Defense’s most sensitive information.
This incident has sparked significant attention to the cooperation between the US government and tech companies.
After the incident was exposed, Microsoft announced that they will no longer be using Chinese technical personnel to support the US military.
Microsoft stated that they have completely terminated the practice of Chinese engineers supporting “sensitive Department of Defense cloud systems” under the supervision of US contractors. The company will strengthen its internal review mechanisms to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.
(This article references reports from the Defense Observer website and Reuters.)