A U.S. Senator has formally requested the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Microsoft for what is described as “gross cybersecurity negligence.” The Senator’s concern centers on the company’s handling of default configurations, outdated encryption support, and weak protocols that have contributed to high-impact ransomware and data breach incidents.
The most cited case is the 2024 ransomware attack on Ascension Health, which exposed personal and insurance information of approximately 5.6 million patients. The attack reportedly began when a contractor clicked a malicious search result, enabling attackers to exploit weak Active Directory credentials using a technique called Kerberoasting. Kerberoasting allows attackers to steal service account credentials, which are often encrypted using the insecure RC4 algorithm. Once decrypted, attackers can escalate privileges, move laterally across the network, and gain access to sensitive data.
The Senator also highlights Microsoft’s continued support for RC4 in default configurations. Despite its well-known vulnerabilities, RC4 remains an option for Kerberos authentication. While Microsoft has stated that RC4 represents a very small fraction of traffic and plans to phase it out by 2026, regulators argue that this delay exposes organizations to unnecessary risk. The Senator also criticized Microsoft’s response to prior warnings as overly technical, which failed to communicate the urgency and risk clearly to enterprise decision-makers.
Why This Matters
- Legacy Risk: Insecure defaults and outdated protocols like RC4 increase systemic vulnerabilities across enterprise networks.
- High-Impact Targets: Critical industries such as healthcare, finance, and government are particularly at risk. The Ascension breach demonstrates the real-world consequences of weak defaults.
- Regulatory Exposure: Organizations and vendors may face legal, regulatory, and reputational consequences if negligence contributes to breaches.
- Enterprise Awareness: Many companies rely on vendor defaults without reviewing or hardening configurations, leaving them exposed to avoidable attacks.
Recommendations
- Audit and Harden Defaults: Review all default configuration settings and remove legacy, insecure protocols such as RC4. Enforce stronger encryption standards by default.
- Enforce Strong Credentials: Implement complex, long passwords for service accounts and require multi-factor authentication.
- Monitor Active Directory: Detect post-compromise techniques such as Kerberoasting. Implement logging, alerting, and threat-hunting to identify suspicious activity.
- Vendor Transparency: Require clear documentation on configuration risks and mitigation steps, written in a way that enterprise leaders can act upon.
- Patch Management: Ensure all systems are kept up to date, especially after advisories highlighting zero-day vulnerabilities or insecure defaults.
- Incident Preparedness: Develop rapid response plans for breaches arising from insecure defaults or misconfigurations.
What This Incident Reveals
This case underscores a critical reality in modern cybersecurity: it is not only new exploits that threaten enterprises, but also legacy technologies, outdated protocols, and insecure defaults that persist within widely deployed software. Organizations may inherit weak settings, and unless these are proactively reviewed and hardened, they remain exploitable vulnerabilities.
The Microsoft-Ascension case is a warning for enterprises to evaluate both their software configurations and vendor guidance critically. Compliance and cybersecurity maturity require not just patching vulnerabilities but also actively hardening systems against known weaknesses in default deployments.
About COE Security
COE Security partners with organizations in financial services, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and government to strengthen cybersecurity posture and ensure compliance. Our offerings include:
- AI-enhanced threat detection and real-time monitoring
- Data governance aligned with GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS
- Secure model validation to protect against adversarial attacks
- Customized training in cybersecurity best practices
- Penetration testing across Mobile, Web, AI, Product, IoT, Network, and Cloud
- Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) consulting
- Comprehensive cybersecurity services tailored to evolving threats
We help organizations proactively secure default configurations, phase out legacy protocols, and implement robust monitoring and response practices to protect sensitive data and maintain regulatory compliance.