Europe's cybersecurity depends on the United States: Europe can and must do more

Alexandra Paulus

No 44/2025, SWP Comments from Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), German Institute for International and Security Affairs

Abstract: The cybersecurity of governments, companies, and individuals in Europe is heavily dependent on the United States. Specifically, US companies dominate the global markets for cybersecurity applications and information on cyber threats. The US military also plays a role in data-gathering. In addition, Washington provides financial support for vulnerability databases and the open source ecosystem. Taken together, these seemingly isolated technical issues mean that Europe's ability to act in the field of cybersecurity is limited. This would even remain the case if Europe built its own "EuroStack." These dependencies can become a problem for Europe in various situations - if the US government ends its financial support for cybersecurity, if it changes its political priorities, or if it openly weaponizes these dependencies in a conflict with Europe. German and European decision-makers should act now to reduce these dependencies and protect Europe's cybersecurity in the long term.

Keywords: Europe; EU; cybersecurity; US; "EuroStack"; data-gathering; dependencies; US-based companies; Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR); Security Information and Event Management (SIEM); Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE); "hunt forward" (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:swpcom:333588

DOI: 10.18449/2025C44

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