Renee Dudley

The Federal Trade Commission has demanded information from Microsoft and interviewed competitors as the agency’s antitrust investigation heats up. The probe follows ProPublica reporting on how the company skirted and potentially violated federal law.

The executive order follows a ProPublica investigation that found Microsoft prioritized profit over security, leaving the federal government vulnerable to the largest hack in U.S. history. Vendors must now demonstrate that their products are secure.

The tech billionaire and Trump adviser “donated” Starlink service to the White House. The move resembles a previous maneuver by Microsoft, which used “free” trials to lock in costly upgrades across the federal government.

After a ProPublica investigation revealed how Microsoft’s “digital escort” tech support service could expose sensitive government data to cyberattacks, the company says China-based engineers will no longer provide assistance on DOD cloud services.

Microsoft announced that Chinese state-sponsored hackers had exploited vulnerabilities in its popular SharePoint software but didn’t mention that it has long used China-based engineers to maintain the product.

The Defense Department is opening an investigation to determine if the tech giant’s use of overseas engineers to maintain sensitive U.S. government computer systems compromised national security.

The Defense Department has tightened cybersecurity requirements for its cloud services providers. The changes come after ProPublica revealed how Microsoft’s use of China-based engineers left sensitive government data vulnerable to hacking.

The measure, which emerged in response to a ProPublica investigation, bars Microsoft engineers in China and other adversarial countries from servicing sensitive Pentagon cloud computing systems.

A federal program created to protect the government against cyber threats authorized a sprawling Microsoft cloud product, despite the company’s inability to fully explain how it protects sensitive data.

We’ve been reporting on cybersecurity for years. As President Donald Trump and his Cabinet say artificial intelligence will transform the nation, the messaging isn’t new. It follows a familiar pattern.