Things aren’t looking good for Microsoft, which has found itself in hot water with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission). The commission is keeping the company in its sights over security issues relating to its Azure offering and the way in which software is bundled. The FTC is getting involved because of suspicions of anti-competitive practices.
The FTC is looking into the Microsoft case!
Clearly, it is the brand’s Azure offering that has attracted the commission’s attention. The FTC believes that this offering is not sufficiently secure, and that there have been security incidents involving it. It should also be noted that this is a software offering used by the US government… So if these are like swiss cheese, imagine the scandal.
As a result, the company’s CEO wants to put security back at the heart of the company’s priorities. In a memo, he wrote: “If you are faced with a trade-off between security and another priority, the answer is clear: choose the priority.” The tone is set.
There is also the question of how the offer is grouped together. Once again, the Commission is said to be examining the brand’s software licences to ensure that there are no anti-competitive practices. We’ll keep an eye on this one too.
Be that as it may, this is not the first time that Microsoft has been closely monitored in this way. The Verge reports that in the 90s the company was sued over the way its operating system bundled its web browser. In the meantime, it has largely avoided the levels of surveillance seen in other big tech companies such as Meta and Amazon.
What’s more, with Trump taking office, there’s likely to be a lot of change.
