The steady drip of revelations about Chinese attacks on US critical infrastructure, businesses, government IT systems, contractors, and perhaps even courts has done little to calm matters. The trade war over tariffs and access to rare earth elements and other materials essential to IT vendors begun by US President Donald Trump when he took office in January has further aggravated the situation — although in June Trump claimed the relationship is excellent between the two countries.
Protecting sensitive data
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by CSO, but “told ProPublica that it has disclosed details about the escort model to the federal government,” according to the report. It also told ProPublica that global workers “have no direct access to customer data or customer systems,” and that escorts “with the appropriate clearances and training provide direct support.” Their training includes “protecting sensitive data, preventing harm, and use of the specific commands/controls within the environment,” the report quoted a Microsoft statement as saying.
But people involved in the work have told Microsoft those protections are inadequate, according to the report. Foreign engineers have access to detailed information about the federal cloud that could be exploited by hackers, and the digital escorts are insufficiently skilled to catch all suspicious activity, it said.,
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