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This move reflects heightened awareness and concern about foreign access to U.S. defense infrastructure, especially via cloud and software systems. Microsoft responded by vowing to end the use of China-based teams for Pentagon work — a sign of the growing priority placed on safeguarding sensitive systems from potential exploitation.
What Does This Mean for U.S. Security?
Even if no classified information was compromised, this incident reveals a critical vulnerability: foreign actors, possibly through code embedded within systems, could gain indirect access to vital infrastructure. The core question becomes: how do adversaries leverage such access? The long-term threat isn't necessarily immediate damage but establishing footholds or backdoors for future use.