Microsoft needs a security culture overhaul, a US report concludes. The software giant could have prevented a cloud email hack in 2023.

Critics also decry Microsoft's "pay-to-play" monitoring that detected intrusions.

Microsoft has announced changes to a system that was exploited by Chinese hackers over the last month that allowed them to access email accounts and spy on the inner workings of two dozen organizations, including government agencies, a lawmaker’s staff and even Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

China-based hackers have breached email accounts at two-dozen organizations, including some United States government agencies, in an apparent spying campaign aimed at acquiring sensitive information, according to statements from Microsoft and the White House late Tuesday.