Microsoft Suspends Cloud Services to an Israeli Entity After Internal Investigation
Microsoft has suspended specific cloud services to an entity affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Defense, based on the results of an investigation conducted by the company after a news report revealed that these services were used in controversial activities.
The company announced the decision on Thursday, September 25, without detailing the specific services involved. However, the investigation that followed a report by the British newspaper "The Guardian" last month revealed evidence supporting elements of that report, which stated that Unit 8200 in the Israeli army used the technology to create a system for tracking phone calls of Palestinians.
In detailing the evidence found in the investigation, Brad Smith, the company's president and vice chairman, wrote in an email to employees: "While our review is still ongoing, we found evidence supporting elements of The Guardian's report. This evidence includes information related to the Israeli Ministry of Defense's consumption of Azure storage capacity, the company's cloud computing platform, in the Netherlands, and the use of artificial intelligence services."
Smith added that the company informed Israeli defense officials of its decision to disable the cloud storage services and AI subscriptions that the agency was using.
This decision comes amid increasing pressure from the company's employees who protested Israel's use of Microsoft software in its military operations in Gaza. In a related development, the text reported that Microsoft fired five employees in recent weeks due to their participation in protests at the company's headquarters.
The step was also followed just a week later by a UN committee's announcement that "Israel committed genocide against the Palestinians" during the war.
Smith emphasized in his message that the review process did not involve the company accessing personal customer data, stating: "As employees, we all have a shared interest in protecting privacy, given the business value that is achieved by ensuring our customers rely on our services with strong confidence."
He also thanked the British newspaper for its report that highlighted this development.
On the other hand, "The Guardian" reported on Thursday that intelligence sources indicated that the Israeli Unit 8200 plans to move its phone call supplies to the competing platform "Amazon Web Services", which is the leading public cloud in the market.
