Google is slamming Microsoft’s security flaws and offering software discounts in an attempt to poach customers
As the US Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) accuse Microsoft of poor cybersecurity practices, Google is scouring its assets for valuable customers it could hold back.
Earlier this week, the search engine giant published a new whitepaper titled “A More Secure Alternative,” in which it heavily criticized Microsoft’s recent security lapses, which, among other things, led to sensitive information being stolen from Microsoft’s email accounts. government agents.
In June 2023, the US Department of State identified suspicious activity in its Microsoft 365 accounts, with the software giant later determining that the Chinese state-sponsored threat actor known as Storm-0558 had gained access to unclassified Exchange Online Outlook data and had it exfiltrated.
The entire incident turned into a fiasco, as the hackers used a previously obtained MSA key to forge tokens to access OWA and Outlook.com. How they obtained the MSA key remains a mystery. As a result, both CISA and CSRB published reports criticizing Microsoft’s handling of the incident.
Now Google has taken on the Redmond giant, essentially saying that its Workspace offering (the productivity suite that includes Gmail, Google Drive and other tools) is a better, more secure alternative to what Microsoft offers. Not only that, but it also took the opportunity to offer a new promotion where agencies with at least 500 employees get the Workspace Enterprise Plus plan at a discount, and an extra year free if they sign up for a minimum of three years.
While all this is happening, Microsoft isn’t exactly sitting on its hands. It was the impetus for the Secure Future Initiative, which aims to address criticism from the US government, restore damaged trust among its customers and, of course, improve its cybersecurity position.
“Our Secure Future Initiative (SFI) brings together every part of Microsoft to advance cybersecurity across our platforms and products, benefiting customers around the world, including commercial and government enterprises, small businesses and individuals,” a spokesperson for Redmond. The register.
“In addition to the SFI milestones we recently announced, Microsoft continues to work closely with stakeholders in the cybersecurity community, including signing CISA’s Secure by Design pledge and sharing threat intelligence with the security community on advanced nation states and cybercrime actors.”
Ny Breaking contacted Microsoft for comment but did not immediately receive a response.