Recently, there have been some serious security breaches in Microsoft's online services, and the email accounts of company executives have been compromised. A new report says the hacks are causing some concern among Microsoft's U.S. government customers, who pay large amounts for these systems each year.
The Information (as well as SeekingAlpha) reports that the problem began in July 2023, when a suspected Chinese hacker group used obtained MSA keys to counterfeit its own coins. This led to the group accessing Outlook email accounts in the United States and Europe, including those of government agencies such as the U.S. State Department.
Today's new report claims through unnamed sources that the State Department has transferred some data to Microsoft's competitors, including Google and its cloud services, as well as Amazon Web Services (AWS). It is also preparing to select a company for a seven-year, $10 billion contract for cloud, productivity and security services.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department officially stated that it will continue to use Microsoft applications but will also support a "diversified cloud ecosystem."
Recently, a Russian-based hacking group broke into the email accounts of some Microsoft executives. The company later admitted that hackers used information in those emails to access parts of its source code.
Today's new report claims that some of those emails contain messages from Microsoft executives to U.S. government officials. Hackers reportedly used the information to try to gain access to government agency computer systems.
The report also claims that some of Microsoft's major customers want to use a different secure login system than Microsoft's own EntraID to access the company's services. Currently, Microsoft doesn't allow these companies to completely replace EntraID with competing systems, such as those offered by Okta or Cloudflare.