In a decisive move, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has terminated the long-standing “Digital Escorts” program that allowed Chinese coders supervised by U.S. contractors to work on Department of Defense (DoD) cloud systems. Introduced during the Obama administration, the program raised serious security concerns over the handling of sensitive data.
Hegseth described the decision via a video on X, calling the continued use of China-based engineers for DoD cloud services an unacceptable “breach of trust,” even if conducted under official contracting rules. Microsoft confirmed it has ended the practice, stating that effective immediately, no China-based engineering teams will support DoD cloud operations.
The action comes after ProPublica revealed that these foreign engineers were monitored by “digital escorts”—U.S. personnel with security clearances but reportedly lacking technical expertise to detect potential cybersecurity risks.
To ensure further integrity, Hegseth ordered a third-party audit of the “digital escorts” program, including code review and monitoring of submissions from foreign engineers.
Senator Tom Cotton has also pressed the DoD for more transparency. He requested detailed information about what data Chinese engineers accessed, whether there were security incidents, and whether self-audits were conducted.
