国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Europe

Europe's defense vulnerable to US cloud providers

By Jonathan Powell in London | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2026-04-23 04:00
Share
Share - WeChat

Most European countries rely on United States-based cloud services for national defense, creating the strategic risk of a "kill switch" that could disable systems, a new analysis concludes.

According to the Brussels-based think tank Future of Technology Institute, or FOTI, most European states depend on US technology companies for defense applications, either through direct partnerships or via European vendors that run on US cloud services.

This dependence exposes them to a "kill switch", which is the possibility that Washington could subpoena cloud-hosted data or impose sanctions on US cloud providers, reported Euronews.

Under legislation known as the CLOUD Act, or, in full, the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, which was enacted during US President Donald Trump's first term, the US president has the authority to subpoena data.

Specifically, 16 European states face high exposure to a potential US kill switch: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.

Additionally, seven others are at medium risk due to indirect dependence on US cloud infrastructure via European contractors that built their systems: Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, and the Netherlands.

According to FOTI's executive director, Cori Crider, the US employed such a kill switch in 2025, when Microsoft was reported to have suspended the accounts of the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, after Trump imposed sanctions.

Another instance, reported by Ukrainian media, involved Maxar Technologies limiting Ukraine's access to satellite imagery following a US pause in intelligence sharing.

"A kind of kill switch risk from the United States is no longer some sort of theoretical discussion … this is a genuine, imminent risk that Europe doesn't have the luxury to ignore anymore," Crider said.

To conduct the analysis, FOTI reviewed procurement notices for government contracts valued and scanned national defense websites for mentions of "cloud", "Microsoft", "Google", "Amazon Web Services", and "Oracle".

According to the study, Microsoft is the leading cloud provider to European defense agencies, with deployments in 19 countries. Google and Oracle have also secured defense contracts.

At the top of the risk spectrum are countries relying directly on US cloud services that may not be "air gapped", meaning the systems are physically isolated from the broader global cloud infrastructure.

Because they depend on routine updates and maintenance from US service providers, these systems remain exposed and could be jeopardized if sanctions are imposed, the study noted.

Researchers said FOTI's findings represent a "conservative estimate" of cloud involvement, since many contracts are classified and it is difficult to identify every deal that implicates US technology.

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1994 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
五大连池市| 邓州市| 清镇市| 栾城县| 津南区| 和政县| 安康市| 靖边县| 桂东县| 慈利县| 交口县| 边坝县| 巫溪县| 肥西县| 屏东县| 永顺县| 通辽市| 宜良县| 宣城市| 托克逊县| 荔波县| 泰顺县| 曲松县| 建德市| 泸水县| 西丰县| 江油市| 明星| 定日县| 乌拉特中旗| 兴义市| 陈巴尔虎旗| 蕉岭县| 喀什市| 临汾市| 项城市| 天柱县| 庆城县| 汉沽区| 清徐县| 芦溪县|