In May 2024, House Homeland Security Committee leaders asked Microsoft President Brad Smith to testify about the company’s handling of security incidents described in a federal review board report. Their central concern was a compromise in which Chinese government-affiliated hackers stole thousands of emails, including emails from federal agencies. The planned hearing was an effort to examine Microsoft’s response and security practices—not a finding about the company’s current security.
Why did the committee want Smith to testify?
On May 10, 2024, CyberScoop reported that Chairman Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican, and the committee’s top Democrat, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, asked Smith to appear before the House Homeland Security Committee. The committee planned a hearing for May 22, 2024.
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The leaders said they wanted to examine the Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) report on Microsoft’s handling of security incidents, especially the theft of thousands of emails the previous summer. The affected material included emails from federal agencies. The report, as described by CyberScoop, attributed the hacking to Chinese government-affiliated actors.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesThe lawmakers also wanted to examine Microsoft’s plans to improve its security culture. CyberScoop noted that Microsoft had announced organizational changes, but its report did not assess whether those changes worked.
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What concerns did lawmakers raise?
Green and Thompson connected their scrutiny to Microsoft’s role as a supplier of operating systems, cloud platforms, and productivity software to U.S. government agencies, including the intelligence community. In a Thursday letter to Smith, quoted by CyberScoop, they wrote that Microsoft “bears a profound responsibility to prioritize and implement effective cybersecurity measures.”
The letter also said the CSRB report described repeated failures to prevent substantial intrusions, with serious implications for government data, networks, and information. Green separately told CyberScoop that, although Microsoft cooperated with the CSRB investigation, the failures identified in the report posed serious threats and warranted examination by the committee.
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What did Microsoft say?
A Microsoft spokesperson told CyberScoop that the company was committed to providing Congress with information important to national security and looked forward to discussing the best time and way to do so. The response welcomed discussion but did not confirm that Smith would testify on the proposed May 22 date.
What is—and is not—known about the hearing?
CyberScoop’s May 10, 2024 story reported the request and the committee’s plan for a May 22 hearing. That report does not establish whether the hearing took place as planned, whether Smith testified, what he said, or what actions followed. It is therefore best read as a contemporaneous account of a congressional request, not as a record of the hearing’s outcome or a current assessment of Microsoft’s security.
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The article also mentioned a separate January breach and a CISA emergency directive, without enough detail to treat that incident as the CSRB matter discussed here. The two should not be conflated.
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- Work at the speed of your ideas – Built with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite (12 Core) processors, Surface Laptop delivers fast, AI‑accelerated performance—making it the most powerful Surface laptop for everything from multitasking to demanding workloads.
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