Cloud-Based Software Screwups Slam Travel, Health Care, and More

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One of President-elect Trump’s yet-to-be-determined appointments is the chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), whose purpose is protecting America’s consumers, according to their website.

Regarding the messes that failures in cloud-based software have made, the FTC under Biden appointee Lina Kahn doesn’t seem to be doing too much. And at the center of the controversy? Microsoft.

Microsoft, of course, is near-ubiquitous in the computer world. In government, in business, in personal use – it’s Microsoft’s world, and the rest of us just live in it. I’m writing these words on a computer running Windows 11, and I use the Office 365 cloud-based software because some of my ventures more or less require it – and because my computer skills are roughly at the level of a guy who knows how to change a tire on his car, but that’s it.

Cloud-based services have been causing some problems, though; in June, Congress took Microsoft to task over security breaches that led to members of Congress’ email accounts being hacked. This raised some serious questions as to Microsoft’s qualifications to be a government contractor.

The House Homeland Security committee is grilling Microsoft President Brad Smith Thursday about the software giant’s plans to improve its security after a series of devastating hacks reached into federal officials’ email accounts, challenging the company’s fitness as a dominant government contractor.

The questioning followed a withering report on one of those breaches, where the federal Cyber Safety Review Board found the event was made possible by a “cascade of avoidable errors” and a security culture “that requires an overhaul.”

In that hack, suspected agents of China’s Ministry of State Security last year created digital keys using a tool that allowed them to pose as any existing Microsoft customer. Using the tool, they impersonated 22 organizations, including the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce, and rifled through Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s email among others.

These are some pretty serious breaches, and they have national security implications. Software outages have also affected airlines – and hospitals. Delta, having lost faith in Microsoft, relied on IBM to fix some of its software problems. But the average American consumer doesn’t have the resources of the federal government – or the airlines.

There are a couple of things to consider here. First, granted, in the national security realm, there is certainly an ongoing arms race between our IT security people and hackers from China, Russia, Iran, and pretty much any nation who harbors ill will towards the USA. For that matter, if we aren’t doing the same to them, I’d be the most surprised guy since the citizens of Troy wheeled that big wooden horse inside the city gates and all went off for an early night. But Microsoft needs to give some answers for some of these recent breaches, and the FTC, one would think, should be pressing Microsoft execs. The last year has seen some serious failures that have taken travel and healthcare systems offline. That’s not acceptable. The FTC’s mission is to protect consumers. Here is their opportunity to do so.

There lies the opportunity for President-elect Trump.

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President-elect Trump is reported to be vetting candidates for the FTC slot. Let’s hope he chooses wisely. Like so many federal agencies, the FTC could use a serious overhaul.

Even better: Let the DOGE loose, Mr. President!