Some of the most sensitive data the United States has to offer is currently being maintained by engineers from China, often considered, especially in the tech field, its biggest adversary. A report from ProPublica has claimed Microsoft is using these engineers to maintain the Department of Defense’s computer systems, with ‘minimal supervision by US personnel’. This arrangement has changed as of now, Microsoft says, as the firm has revised its practices to ensure Chinese engineers no longer provide technical support for services in an effort to mitigate the risk to national security. “In response to concerns raised earlier this week about US-supervised foreign engineers, 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 Government cloud and related services,” said the Microsoft’s Chief Communications Officer, Frank Shaw, in an X post. The workers were supervised by ‘digital escorts’, barely-over-minimum wage workers who are often less skilled than the engineers they oversee – many are former military personnel with very little coding experience. One of these escorts told ProPublica; ‘we’re trusting that what they’re doing isn’t malicious, but we really can’t tell.’ Whilst this system has been in place for almost ten years, many former government officials told the publication that they were unfamiliar with the practice.

Full report : Microsoft to stop using engineers in China for tech support of US military, Hegseth orders review.