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Foreign influence has long been a concern for the DoD and U.S.-based companies. That concern is now gaining urgency, especially as threats within the defense industrial base become more visible.
The U.S. government is responding. Secretary Hegseth recently declared, “China will no longer have any involvement whatsoever in our cloud services, effective immediately.”
This isn’t just a defense-sector issue. It’s a national security issue that every business should take seriously. In this interconnected world, all companies have unseen risk.
Accrete’s Argus is designed to reveal hidden risk. When Hegseth’s announcement went live and focused on Microsoft, the Accrete team used Argus, the platform that detects Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI), to investigate Microsoft’s network.
Could there still be unseen exposure points in major government contractors like Microsoft? The answer is yes. Some more concerning than you’d expect.
What started as a routine post-announcement inquiry quickly evolved into a broader investigation that revealed a deeply entrenched web of partnerships, suppliers, and financial ties connecting Microsoft’s ecosystem to Chinese state and military interests. Argus made visible what traditional risk assessments often overlook. Here’s what Argus discovered:
- Microsoft has strategic partnerships with INESA and Beijing Trust&Far: both also connected to Huawei, a large Chinese technology company.
- Sinodata, a member of Microsoft’s AI Cloud Partner Program, partners with Huawei, China Telecom, and ZTE: all with military affiliations.
- Several Microsoft suppliers operate within China’s state-owned enterprise ecosystem, placing them under direct government influence.
These findings show that exposure is real and not always visible through conventional analysis. However, not all discoveries are indicative of malicious intent, which is why further analysis of these connections should be performed. Microsoft may be the most recent example, but one thing is for sure, every company, regardless of size, is vulnerable to Chinese influence and access.
There is no single office or organization that has full visibility into the business environment. A platform like Argus allows companies to triage the business ecosystem to identify risk rapidly so it can be mitigated.
Take Cadence Design Systems for example. The company was fined for selling chip design products to a Chinese military university, a tier one national security violation. This type of activity, if not detected in a timely manner could have had detrimental effects. A Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) study provides insights into foreign influence risks and how export controls are a critical safeguard for the U.S. Cadence Design Systems and similar companies face export control violation risks through not only direct sales, but also second-tier supply chain links to Chinese military companies and universities.
In today’s threat landscape, speed matters. Identifying risks quickly can make an impact on national security and impact on the company’s bottom line and financial stability.