US Cyber Inquiry To Investigate Microsoft's Involvement in Data Breach

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A United States cybersecurity advisory panel will investigate Microsoft's alleged involvement in the recent data breach that targeted government officials' emails.

A United States cybersecurity advisory panel will investigate the risks brought about by cloud computing and Microsoft Corp.'s involvement in the recent data breach that targeted government officials' emails.

The attack is believed to have been conducted by alleged Chinese hackers, said two people familiar with the matter. The Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB), created by United States President Joe Biden's administration to investigate major cybersecurity events, will broadly look at the risks to cloud computing.

US Cyber Inquiry To Investigation Microsoft

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said the probe would include identity and authentication management, and the board will examine all relevant cloud service providers. As per Bloomberg, the topic was brought into the spotlight after a breach of Microsoft's email systems.

The report comes after Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CSIA), and the Justice Department in July to "take action" against the tech company following the data breach.

The situation comes as Microsoft has been facing increasing scrutiny after it was discovered that hackers supposedly operating on Beijing's behalf could access one of its cryptographic keys. They then used a coding flaw to access the tech firm's cloud email platform.

The hackers then used their access to spy on the communications of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and senior State Department diplomats. According to Yahoo News, last week, the US House of Representatives Oversight Committee said it would open an investigation into China's alleged involvement in recent cyber attacks on Commerce and State Department email systems.

The situation comes as Bridgewater's top tech executive, Igor Tsyganskiy, left the world's largest hedge fund after seven years to work with Microsoft to bolster the company's cybersecurity. In an interview, he said this is one of the most crucial things in computer science and the world.

He Tsyganskiy added that the sophistication of cyberattacks and other hacking attempts had changed drastically in the last decade. He noted that recent attacks on critical infrastructure in the US, such as on power grids and oil pipelines, have significantly increased.

Microsoft's Cybersecurity Efforts

His transition to Microsoft aims to combat threats on a broader scale as he would become the company's chief strategy officer of security starting in September. Since the official became a part of Bridgewater in 2016, he has overhauled almost every system at the company.

This includes the firm's trading and back-office systems, and he was considered pivotal to the company's move to the cloud and was able to scale Bridgewater's investment-research platform.

Tsyganskiy said that due to the work he was involved with in Bridgewater, he was essentially at the core of efforts to strengthen cybersecurity for the company and the industry as a whole.

In announcing the transition, he thanked Bridgewater's co-chief investment officer Greg Jensen. Business Insider said that the latter was considered crucial to the company's AI efforts with his work as an exceptional partner.