Confirming reports of a “potential vulnerability,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced swift action against the Obama administration system that exposed military data to “cheap Chinese labor.”
The same week that former President Barack Obama was working to dispel divorce rumors, his administration’s alleged infidelity to the American people was getting brought to light. In addition to criminal referrals for officials said to have crafted intelligence to advance the Russia collusion hoax, Hegseth confirmed a “legacy system” from the administration had allowed the U.S. military to use Chinese-based cloud services.
In an announcement that prompted the response “WTF” and “Who let this happen in the first place!?!” Hegseth explained, “Earlier this week, we were alerted to a potential vulnerability in our DoD computer systems and we’ve been checking into it ever since.”
“It turns out that some tech companies have been using cheap Chinese labor to assist with DoD cloud services,” he continued. “This is obviously unacceptable, especially in today’s digital threat environment.”
BREAKING: Secretary Pete Hegseth just revealed that we were using a China based cloud service in our military!
WTF
He says they are immediately reversing course on this Obama era initiative and China will no longer have access.
Who let this happen in the first place!?! pic.twitter.com/rl2rqF0YNt
— Gunther Eagleman
(@GuntherEagleman) July 18, 2025
According to the SecDef, “Now, this was a legacy system created over a decade ago, during the Obama administration. But we have to ensure the digital systems that we use here at the Defense Department are ironclad and impenetrable.”
As had been reported based on a ProPublica investigation, Microsoft had been using American “digital escorts” as a workaround for the law prohibiting foreign nationals from accessing systems handling sensitive data. The security clearances of those “escorts” allowed them to act as go-betweens for Chinese-based engineers with the requisite skills lacking among those given clearance.
That lack of skills meant that, as one former Microsoft engineer from the escort system had told ProPublica, “If someone ran a script called ‘fix_servers.sh’ but it actually did something malicious, then [escorts] would have no idea.”
“And that’s why today, I’m announcing that China will no longer have any involvement whatsoever in our cloud services, effective immediately,” added Hegseth. “And, at my direction, the department will also initiate, as fast as we can — a two-week review, or faster — to make sure that what we uncover isn’t happening anywhere else across the DoD.”
“We will continue to monitor and counter all threats to our military infrastructure and online networks,” he noted before he concluded with thanks to those who brought the issue to the Defense Department’s attention.
Those alerting Hegseth following the findings of ProPublica had included Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who penned a letter to Hegseth on Thursday, “concerning a report that Microsoft is currently employing engineers in China to maintain Department of Defense (D0D) systems, potentially exposing our nation’s most sensitive data to a foreign adversary.”
Raising ongoing concerns about “state-sponsored hacking campaigns,” the senator wrote, “The U.S. government recognizes that China’s cyber capabilities pose one of the most aggressive and dangerous threats to the United States, as evidenced by infiltration of our critical infrastructure, telecommunications networks, and supply chains. DoD must guard against all potential threats within its supply chain, including those from subcontractors.”
In light of recent and concerning reports about Microsoft using engineers in China to maintain DoD systems, I’ve asked @SecDef to look into the matter.
We must guard against all threats within our military’s supply chain. pic.twitter.com/Q8KZk5itz1
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) July 18, 2025
State Armor Action founder and CEO Michael Lucci, whose organization works on solutions to global security threats, took to X to contend that if the report is true, “Microsoft has created an absolute national embarrassment. Using Chinese nationals (in China) to write & update code for DoD systems is borderline treasonous. Microsoft must be held accountable.”
He also stated, “Using Soviet software engineers for ANYTHING would have been considered treasonous. China has laws requiring all nationals, and in particular those in China, to spy & then lie. Why should MSFT or any other company use ANY Chinese engineers based in China?”
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
