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Monday, 22 April 2024

Former White House Cyber Policy Director: Microsoft Is a National Security Threat

WebProNews
Former White House Cyber Policy Director: Microsoft Is a National Security Threat

Former White House Cyber Policy Director A.J Grotto had harsh words for Microsoft, calling the company and its products “a national security concern.”

Microsoft has been in the crosshairs of late, as a result numerous high-profile breaches, some of which have exposed US government accounts. In an interview with The Register, Grotto places the blame squarely with Microsoft, saying the company has been largely uncooperative with efforts to increase security.

“If you go back to the SolarWinds episode from a few years ago … [Microsoft] was essentially up-selling logging capability to federal agencies,” rather than providing them by default, Grotto said. “As a result, it was really hard for agencies to identify their exposure to the SolarWinds breach.”

Grotto went on to tell the outlet that Microsoft had to be “dragged kicking and screaming” into providing the government logging capabilities OOTB. The former official says the company has “a ton of leverage, and they’re not afraid to use it.”

Grotto says a lack of competition in the government space is one of the biggest issues, since it means Microsoft has little incentive to improve its products.

“The government needs to focus on encouraging and catalyzing competition,” Grotto said, adding he believes the government should call out the company for its security mishaps.

“At the end of the day, Microsoft, any company, is going to respond most directly to market incentives,” Grotto told the outlet. “Unless this scrutiny generates changed behavior among its customers who might want to look elsewhere, then the incentives for Microsoft to change are not going to be as strong as they should be.”