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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) remains under the ire of lawmakers in Washington after a pair of senators sent a letter to the Pentagon expressing “serious concern” about the tech giant’s latest cybersecurity snafus, Axios reported.
Shares were down roughly 2.4% in midday trading on Thursday.
Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote to Pentagon CIO John Sherman that they are concerned the Department of Defense is not choosing a multi-vendor approach for its upgrade to its zero-trust security approach.
They believe this “would result in greater competition, lower long-term costs, and better outcomes related to cybersecurity,” the senators wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the news outlet.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.
The Pentagon is discussing whether to upgrade to Microsoft’s E5 license in an effort to boost security, Axios added. If the Pentagon goes ahead with the plan, the upgrade would start next month and be finished by summer 2025.
The Pentagon has until the 2027 fiscal year to make the transition to the zero-trust security strategy.
Microsoft disclosed last summer that it had suffered a serious security breach from China-based hackers. The cyber criminals illegally accessed the email accounts of roughly 25 organizations, including several government agencies.
Officials at the State Department and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were among the victims of the attack. However, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the hack was detected “fairly rapidly” and further breaches were prevented.
As a result of the hack, Microsoft offered some cybersecurity tools for free to its customers, many of whom were worried about the breach.