Europe Must Rethink Security As Big Tech Power Grows, EU Says (reuters.com) 20
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: The European Union must rethink security to take into account challenges and risks posed by the growing power of major technology companies that go beyond traditional competition concerns, European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera said on Monday. "We need to review and to deepen our concept of security, including cybersecurity," Ribera told reporters in Lisbon, arguing that testing and monitoring devices connected to critical infrastructure was no longer sufficient and that security means also ensuring that the Big Tech companies are "governed by democratic and transparent patterns." "We need to be quite quick in the deployment of these new approaches ... This is one of the most critical topics for security, for democracy, and for (our) values," she said.
Can you actually leave? (Score:5, Interesting)
The security issue I see is leverage. If a government department can't function after a supplier suspends an account, changes its terms, or gets an order from another government, that's a serious dependency. Everything could be fully patched and working exactly as designed. The question is who gets to decide whether your essential services keep running.
"Democratic and transparent patterns" [reuters.com] sounds lovely, but I'd start with the purchasing contracts. Require usable data exports, documented interfaces, and an exit plan somebody has actually tested. Pay for the staff needed to make that possible. If moving suppliers takes five years and the only person who understands the system retired, another declaration about European values won't get you very far.
Re:Can you actually leave? (Score:5, Insightful)
In terms of tens of billions lost from unjust stock market manipulation for daring not provide support immediately without question.
"Company does stupid risky thing, makes lot's of people and governments mad, increases global instability, loses value" is not manipulation.
If we want to go back to a time where the stock market is based on company fundamentals and not memes, vibes and high frequency trading I am right there with you but that ship has sailed without significant regulatory changes.
Re: (Score:2)
What you sound like: "I'm a stupid moron with an ugly face and a big butt and my butt smells and... I like to kiss my own butt."
Re: (Score:3)
That is one and a major one. But another one is seriously bad software quality and security. If that comes from an European maker, the leverage is a different one, even if MS is subject to the CRA, the DSA and the GDPR just the same, at least in theory.
Europe can do all this stuff. But it requires actually thinking about it.
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It's easier than that. Just buy European - period. The rest of the world is going to do the same thing BTW. Everyone knows European products are the best cause of good regulations. And we won't pull the plug out of things we sell you for no reason.
I do IT projects for government entities and the magic word right now is sovereignty. They are cutting out US and Chinese manufacturers from the entire supply chain. Byebye Cisco, Broadcom, Dell, HP, IBM, etc.
You can't make us buy US stuff if we refuse, and that's
Sovereignty or Vassalhood (Score:5, Insightful)
If you depend on a foreign nation to run yours, you're a vassal. Maybe you trust them not to strangle you today, but do you really trust they won't in the future?
You can't trust Starlink, Microsoft, Google, or Amazon. You need your own network, your own OS, your own applications, your own storage, your own logistics.
Most of that can be shared if it's decentralized and auditable. Those examples are neither, and no matter how much their local subsidiary claims otherwise, they will do as their home government instructs regardless of your laws.
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Europe does not currently have the capacity to do all that and at the same time keep their welfare state and protect themselves against the russians. There simply is not enough per capita productivity. That's what they need to fix, but the only known way is to cut red tape, and that's far from a certain cure. They are better off being vassals to the US until they can get that done, rather than immediately becoming vassals to china for goods and russia for energy just to spite the US.
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I wouldn't say its to spite the US, the US has become increasingly erratic and hostile towards them, I mean you have Trump threatening Denmark over Greenland, you got Vance the sitting US VP appearing on the campaign trail with Victor Orban [politico.com] which is stupid enough for the VP to take such a political stance and then for the most autocratic leader in the region no less (but maybe we can be glad Vance's electoral curse transcends borders).
Plus they constantly play footsies with Putin, don't seem to understand w
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There simply is not enough per capita productivity.
Well, we're doing it anyway. I work for government agencies in the EU and they have only 1 priority right now: sovereignty. And that means removing the US and China out of every single supply chain you can think of. And that means this money is no longer flowing to US companies, which I think people are not quite understanding at the moment. This is going to have a huge impact on these companies if 500 million of the richest people on earth start spending their money somewhere else. If I were an investor I
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Nationalize the discussion all you like but the US government itself isn't secure if it depends on Starlink, Microsoft, Google, or Amazon, either. To assume assume that these each have a nationalist bias is one thing, to assert that it is automagically in line with the policies and goals of the US government (or the party in power, if you will) is provably absurd.
The internet has become a major strategic context (resource? arena? theater?). Any country that maintains its sovereignty MUST insist that they
Obviously (Score:2)
But good that more and more decision makers here start to notice.
Big corporations (Score:2)
Go all in on Mistral (Score:2)
ooh america boogie man (Score:1)
Europe is so obsessed with the US and trump that they are going to succumb to russia, china, and even iran.
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Europe is so obsessed with the US and trump that they are going to succumb to russia, china, and even iran.
The US has already succumbed to Russia, and China is outplaying them globally. Russia's asset has been weakening the US from the inside.
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I guess they didn't threaten your sovereignty?