The U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) has launched a two-week internal review of its digital infrastructure following Microsoft’s announcement that it will no longer use China-based engineering teams to provide technical support for DoD cloud services.
The move comes in response to a ProPublica investigation that revealed Microsoft had relied on engineers located in China to help manage sensitive Pentagon systems—raising serious national security concerns about potential cyber vulnerabilities.
Microsoft’s Chief Communications Officer, Frank Shaw, confirmed the policy change in a statement on X, asserting the company’s commitment to secure services for U.S. government clients. “Microsoft has made changes to our support for US Government customers to assure that no China-based engineering teams are providing technical assistance for DoD cloud and related services,” Shaw said.
Following the revelations, U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth addressed the nation via video, announcing the immediate review and pledging to sever all ties to China-based personnel in military digital operations.
“Earlier this week, we were alerted to a potential vulnerability in our systems… It turns out some tech companies were using cheap Chinese labor for DoD cloud support. This is unacceptable,” Hegseth said, attributing the issue to legacy infrastructure dating back to the Obama administration.
Hegseth emphasized the importance of fortifying the Pentagon’s digital defences, stating: “We must ensure our systems are ironclad and impenetrable. China will no longer have any involvement in our cloud services, effective immediately.”
He also credited media reporting and a letter from Republican Senator Tom Cotton for bringing the issue to light. The upcoming review will aim to uncover any further lapses across the DoD’s digital operations and ensure compliance with national security standards.
As global tensions in cyber warfare continue to rise, the U.S. government is taking a firm stand to shield its military data from foreign exposure—particularly from adversarial states like China.