Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith speaks at Gateway Technical College in Sturtevant, Wisconsin on May 8, 2024.
Alex Wroblewski | Bloomberg | Getty Images
House committee hopes MicrosoftThis month, the company’s top lawyer, Brad Smith, appeared at a hearing over a vulnerability in the company’s software that allowed hackers to obtain the emails of U.S. government officials.
Politicians often ask tech companies to send leaders to Washington. The CEOs of Alphabet, Meta and TikTok have all fielded questions from members of Congress in recent years. Microsoft, the world’s most valuable public company, sells email software subscriptions that are ubiquitous in businesses and governments, making it an obvious target for hackers.
At 10 a.m. Eastern Time on May 22, the U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing to discuss Microsoft’s response to China’s intrusion into the email accounts of U.S. government officials, which the company disclosed last summer. The attack involved the accounts of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon and U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
But Smith may not necessarily show up when asked by the committee letter He got it in the mail on Thursday.
“We remain committed to providing Congress with information critical to national security, and we look forward to discussing the specifics of the best time and manner to accomplish this,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in an email Thursday.
Last month, the Cybersecurity Review Board said in a 34-page report Report The criticism states that “Microsoft’s customers will benefit from its CEO and board of directors paying direct attention to the company’s security culture.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella instructs employees to put security first memorandum last week.The company announced Operational changes Addresses deficiencies identified in the report of the Independent Federal Commission.
Charlie Bell, executive vice president for security, said Microsoft will “improve the accuracy, effectiveness and effectiveness of public messaging and customer engagement” after the board expressed concern that the company had not corrected errors in company blog posts for months. sex, transparency and speed”.
In January, Microsoft reported another cyberattack. This time, Russian intelligence gained access to the email accounts of some of the company’s top executives.
In a letter inviting Smith to the hearing, committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and Democrat Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said they were encouraged by the company’s plan to overhaul its safety practices. But they said the company failed to prevent the attacks, putting Americans at risk.
“Given the seriousness of the issues described above and the need for thorough inspection and oversight, attendance at committee meetings is critical,” Green and Thompson wrote.
watch: Microsoft needs to prioritize security over feature development: Former CISA director Chris Krebs
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