U.S. Senator Ron Wyden is urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Microsoft for what he calls "gross cybersecurity negligence." He claims the company's insecure software enabled a massive ransomware attack on a U.S. healthcare provider, which he says poses a serious national security threat. Wyden compared Microsoft to an "arsonist selling firefighting services to their victims."
The senator's call for an investigation follows a recent data breach at the healthcare system Ascension. The attack, attributed to the Black Basta ransomware group, compromised personal and medical information for nearly 5.6 million people and is ranked as one of the largest healthcare incidents in the past year.
According to Wyden's office, the breach began when a contractor's system was infected with malware. The attackers then used "dangerously insecure default settings" in Microsoft's software to gain elevated access to the network. This was done using a technique called Kerberoasting, which exploits the weak, decades-old RC4 encryption that is still enabled by default in Microsoft's software. Wyden's office had warned Microsoft about this threat back in July 2024.
While Microsoft did eventually release an alert in October 2024, it was only after the Ascension breach had occurred. Wyden criticized the company for not enforcing stronger password requirements and for its continued support for the insecure RC4 encryption, which he says "needlessly exposes" customers to threats.
The senator's letter also references a previous government review that found Microsoft's "avoidable errors" led to a separate breach by a Chinese threat group. The broader issue, according to cybersecurity experts, is the "systemic risk" that comes from a single company's insecure default settings affecting a large part of the nation's critical infrastructure.
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