While Microsoft has said it will stop using China-based tech support for the Defense Department, it declined to answer questions about what would replace it, including whether cloud support would come from engineers based outside the US. The company also declined to say whether it would continue to use digital escorts.

Microsoft has warned that Chinese state-sponsored hackers have breached its SharePoint software used by the US agency responsible for maintaining and modernizing the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, according to a report.

Researchers say Chinese actors, along with other criminal hackers, exploited a security flaw in SharePoint software widely used by governments and businesses.

Microsoft is investigating whether a leak from its early alert system for cybersecurity companies allowed Chinese hackers to exploit flaws in its SharePoint service before they were patched, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

The path to a worldwide hacking campaign began with a contest for cash and a free laptop.

Some of the most sensitive data the United States has to offer is currently being maintained by engineers from China, often considered, especially in the tech field, its biggest adversary.

Software giant Microsoft is at the center of cybersecurity storm after China-linked hackers exploited flaws in SharePoint servers to target hundreds of organizations.

After a ProPublica investigation raised security concerns, Microsoft will cease using China-based engineers for work on sensitive Pentagon cloud computing systems.

Microsoft Corp. said a Chinese hacking group is exploiting security vulnerabilities in the company’s SharePoint servers to deploy ransomware, following a cyberattack discovered last week that has affected hundreds of entities around the world.