The US Department of Defense is quietly phasing out one of its longest-running cybersecurity programs and replacing it with Microsoft’s off-the-shelf tools, despite domestic opposition and criticism from experts who say it will leave the country more vulnerable to foreign attack. hackers and cyber attacks. This was written by the American magazine Newsweek.
In a series of meetings with DoD CIO John Sherman in the fall of 2022 as the Department of Defense’s FY 2024 budget request was finalized, a “clear majority” of senior military CIOs opposed throwing out legacy software. a Pentagon official.
The potential risks came to light in March of this year when it was revealed that hackers suspected of belonging to Russian military intelligence had been secretly exploiting a vulnerability in the Microsoft Outlook email program for nearly a year, Newsweek reports. In this regard, experts believe that it is dangerous to rely solely on Microsoft programs.
The Pentagon’s decision to move specifically to Microsoft’s security tools impacts its dominance of the state-owned technology market and may run counter to the White House’s new cybersecurity strategy, which encourages software manufacturers to deliver secure products first rather than selling additional security. amount.
The Ministry will now use Microsoft Defender. According to the magazine, over-reliance on the company risks making the US military’s computer networks more vulnerable; just as America faces off against peers with the technical ability to exploit these vulnerabilities, such as Russia and China, from the war on terror. To three executives at the Pentagon who distribute Microsoft products.
Last August, hackers was attacked new Pentagon technology – local autonomous electricity networks (microgrids) at military bases.