Pete Hegseth Initiates Inquiry After Disclosures of Microsoft’s Use of Chinese Contractors for Sensitive Cloud Services
Published On 28 Aug 2025
The United States is conducting an investigation into the role of Chinese nationals in handling confidential cloud services for the US military, as stated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
On Wednesday, Hegseth announced a review of Microsoft’s practice of employing Chinese citizens to assist in managing sensitive cloud services, to ascertain if any security lapses had occurred.
“The engagement of Chinese nationals for servicing Department of Defense cloud environments — it’s concluded,” Hegseth declared in a video statement.
“We have issued an official expression of concern to Microsoft, detailing this breach of confidence, and are mandating a third-party audit of Microsoft’s digital escort program, encompassing the code and submissions from Chinese nationals.”
“We will determine if they embedded anything in the code that we’re unaware of,” Hegseth stated further.
Hegseth also directed software suppliers to identify and halt “any Chinese involvement in DOD systems.”
This directive follows a July investigative piece by ProPublica, which exposed Microsoft’s recruitment of contractors in China and other foreign countries to support the Defense Department’s cloud systems alongside US-based “digital escorts.”
In response to the report, Microsoft has ceased employing China-based technicians for military support.
Hegseth, who promptly ordered the examination of China’s role in cloud services following the ProPublica article, deemed the exclusion of Chinese nationals from sensitive systems as “a matter of common sense.”
“We anticipate that vendors engaged in business with the Department of Defense will prioritize the safeguarding of US national security over the pursuit of profit maximization,” he remarked.
On Wednesday, Hegseth announced a review of Microsoft’s practice of employing Chinese citizens to assist in managing sensitive cloud services, to ascertain if any security lapses had occurred.
“The engagement of Chinese nationals for servicing Department of Defense cloud environments — it’s concluded,” Hegseth declared in a video statement.
“We have issued an official expression of concern to Microsoft, detailing this breach of confidence, and are mandating a third-party audit of Microsoft’s digital escort program, encompassing the code and submissions from Chinese nationals.”
“We will determine if they embedded anything in the code that we’re unaware of,” Hegseth stated further.
Hegseth also directed software suppliers to identify and halt “any Chinese involvement in DOD systems.”
This directive follows a July investigative piece by ProPublica, which exposed Microsoft’s recruitment of contractors in China and other foreign countries to support the Defense Department’s cloud systems alongside US-based “digital escorts.”
In response to the report, Microsoft has ceased employing China-based technicians for military support.
Hegseth, who promptly ordered the examination of China’s role in cloud services following the ProPublica article, deemed the exclusion of Chinese nationals from sensitive systems as “a matter of common sense.”
“We anticipate that vendors engaged in business with the Department of Defense will prioritize the safeguarding of US national security over the pursuit of profit maximization,” he remarked.
