RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways More than half could operate for only one day without cloud access. Nearly half are investing in backup email and cloud storage. Vendor diversity and tested backups can limit costly disruptions.Close to 75% of European businesses fear the prospect of a kill switch that revokes their access to tech and infrastructure provided by companies in the United States. With geopolitical tensions rising, companies in the US need to rethink their strategies, too.Digital sovereignty, the ability of an organization, state, or country to handle its own digital infrastructure, data, technologies, and assets, was the subject at the heart of the UN Open Source Week in June. As reported by ZDNET's Steven Vaughan-Nichols, a blunt question was asked: Who actually truly owns the ecosystems that serve our people? Also: Digital sovereignty at the UN: Inside the global push to replace US cloud giants with open-source tech It is this question, combined with geopolitical tensions, that is leading organizations worldwide to ask whether sticking with the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services is the right strategic move -- and whether US tech vendors can be relied upon at all. Digital sovereignty and kill switch fears Digital sovereignty and digital resiliency in the face of political and economic factors we can't control have led to the idea of a kill switch: a scenario in which services across the tech stack are effectively cut off by a foreign government, group, or business without warning. There's also the prospect of being cut off from essential services unless companies bow to demands made by these entities, such as demands to hand over sensitive data or assets. Also: 98% of IT leaders want digital sovereignty: Now SUSE is operationalizing it for companies everywhere What are European businesses saying? On Thursday, Proton released new research based on a survey of roughly 1,500 business decision-makers in the UK, France, and Germany. It revealed that 75% of European organizations, many of which rely on a few major US-based platforms to handle their infrastructure and operations, fear that a kill switch situation would revoke their access to cloud and digital services overnight. (Note: Proton, which conducted the survey and provided commentary to ZDNET, sells encrypted email, cloud storage, and other business services.) More than half (54.5%) believe that if this happened, they could only continue operating for one business day or less. Businesses responding to the survey estimated they would lose approximately €100,000 ($115,000) from a single day of downtime, with 44.8% expecting to lose over €50,000 ($58,000). Also: How digitally sovereign is your organization? This Red Hat tool can tell you in minutes The lack of certainty around geopolitical tensions and what is to come, such as a potential government-imposed kill switch, has become as much of a topic of discussion and concern as cybersecurity. Just under 75% of European companies report the same level of fear about cyberattacks and ransomware as they do about a kill switch. "Both are treated as existential operational threats," Proton says. Only one in 20 respondents said they have no such concerns about a government-imposed kill switch impacting their business in the future. Is kill switch risk just a European problem? Speaking to ZDNET, Proton Chief Operating Officer Raphaël Auphan said no organization is immune to the potential impact of a kill switch, and whenever a business has yoked itself -- and its critical operations -- to a single tech vendor's infrastructure, it "has effectively handed a third party the ability to disrupt its operations." It doesn't actually matter whether the vendor is based in the US, in a European country, or in another region. Without diversified assets, infrastructure, and effective backup plans for when a kill switch is triggered and they are cut off from a tech vendor's services, organizations can be exposed to unacceptable levels of risk. Also: France is ditching Windows for digital sovereignty - and its new Linux stack is taking shape If this scenario plays out, European businesses could quickly close down their operations, but that's not to say that US organizations won't also be impacted. There's no guarantee that a kill switch wouldn't also impact local firms; tech bans could be imposed, and these same companies could face financial losses as European clients start looking elsewhere to establish greater control over their infrastructure and digital assets. We've already begun to see it with some major US-based tech providers: Some EU governments are rejecting Microsoft in favor of open-source solutions; Ireland has stalled a €1 billion tender amid the debate on US tech reliance; Google Cloud is reportedly arguing with EU lawmakers over digital sovereignty's impact on the EU market; and AWS launched a European Sovereign Cloud to try to allay fears of kill switches impacting AWS availability. "Geopolitical and political conditions change, regulatory environments shift, and the assumption that your provider's interests will always align with yours is a fragile foundation for business continuity," Auphan commented. How businesses on both sides of the Atlantic should respond Auphan says the answer isn't to avoid specific vendors completely or to panic and switch to alternatives without due diligence. Instead, the executive recommends building resiliency into how you use existing services: Encryption: Businesses should ensure their data is end-to-end encrypted and protected, so no vendor or government has free access, regardless of policy changes.Have a backup: Hindsight is a wonderful thing -- but having tested contingency plans in place to ensure your business remains operational can keep you going even if the worst happens. It does appear that organizations are preparing to act, with 44%...
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