Cybersecurity experts’ warning: the European country that could be shut down by the U.S. in one hour
Experts are sounding the alarm over an excessive dependence on products and services provided by American tech companies.
Although it is seen as an unlikely eventuality, cybersecurity experts in Denmark are warning that the country should be prepared for a potential technological shutdown by the United States, amid tensions with the Trump administration over Greenland.
Trump eyes Greenland over U.S. “security” concerns
As is also the case in many other countries in Europe, Denmark’s public and private sectors depend on key information technology, including cloud services, provided by American companies such as Microsoft and Apple.
But since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the Danes have been at odds with the U.S. president over ownership of Greenland, a large Arctic island that is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Trump has said he wants to take control of Greenland “for national security and international security”, while the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has warned the U.S.: “You cannot annex another country.”
Denmark vulnerable to tech shutdown order
Ivan Bjerre Damgaard, a professor at the Department of Computer Science at Aarhus University, finds it striking how many Danes are now joining social media groups calling on people to boycott American products.
Damgaard questions what would happen if Trump pressured U.S. tech companies to disconnect users in Denmark, noting that this kind of vulnerability “has long existed”.
Jacob Herbst, the chair of Denmark’s Cybersecurity Council and the chief technology officer of Dubex, a Danish cybersecurity company, says this is an issue that worries him and many of his colleagues.
Denmark could be brought to “standstill” within an hour
“When we see how dependent we are on American technology, we have to consider that we could end up in a worst-case scenario,” Herbst says. “So, even if it’s a small risk, we need to have some kind of plan B.”
He adds: “If Americans decide to shut down North American cloud services at 8 a.m. on a Monday, Denmark will be at a standstill by 9 a.m.”
A “wake-up call” for European countries
Damgaard believes we are still far from a situation where Trump dictates how U.S. tech firms - whose chiefs have flanked the president in support since his election victory - should act towards other countries.
However, this does not change the fact that Denmark and other European nations are facing a “wake-up call” over their excessive technological dependence on the U.S.
“We have what is called a material legacy - in other words, all the software solutions we have already acquired,” says Andreas Graae, the head of research at the Military Technology Institute of the Danish Defense Academy.
“Changing it now is almost impossible, but of course, we can consider available alternatives and how costly it would be to replace it.”
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