16 Aug 2023

US government cloud email accounts hacked

From Morning Report, 7:54 am on 16 August 2023

A hack of US government cloud email accounts blamed on a group linked to China raises questions about the New Zealand government's growing reliance on American data firms.

The government here is ordering agencies to use cloud computing - it has special relationships with Microsoft and Amazon - and some public tenders specify a preference to use them.

But Microsoft is now under investigation by the US Department of Homeland Security and a Senator accuses it of lax cyber security.

China rejects the accusations it was behind the hack as 'malicious'.

Reporter Phil Pennington spoke to Corin Dann.