"In a letter addressed to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Wyden emphasized that Microsoft's approach to cybersecurity continues to pose potential threats to national security. The senator referenced ransomware attacks affecting infrastructure and healthcare organizations, which he attributes in part to default Windows system configurations. Wyden characterized Microsoft as a company that, due to its extensive presence in enterprise IT, leaves organizations with limited choices but to rely on its products."
"A key example presented in the letter was a ransomware attack on the hospital operator Ascension in May 2024. According to Wyden, the attack exposed private medical and insurance data for approximately 5.6 million individuals. The breach reportedly occurred when a contractor using an Ascension laptop interacted with a malicious link served via Microsoft's Bing search engine, ultimately providing hackers access to the organization's network and its Microsoft Active Directory server."
Senator Ron Wyden requested that the Federal Trade Commission examine Microsoft for significant cybersecurity shortcomings and repeated incidents that affect critical infrastructure. Wyden warned that Microsoft's approach to cybersecurity poses potential threats to national security and pointed to ransomware attacks impacting infrastructure and healthcare, attributing some incidents to default Windows system configurations. Wyden described Microsoft's dominant enterprise IT presence as leaving organizations limited choices and increasing the impact of security gaps. Wyden cited a May 2024 ransomware attack on Ascension that exposed about 5.6 million individuals' medical and insurance data via a malicious link served through Bing. Wyden suggested outdated encryption and default security settings contributed to the vulnerability. A Microsoft spokesperson said the RC4 encryption protocol is outdated and accounts for less than 0.1% of network traffic.
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