In a column published today in Real Clear Policy, Michael Chertoff, co-founder and executive chairman of The Chertoff Group calls for caution as governments consider regulation similar to the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA).
He encourages policy makers to review what is happening in the EU regarding the impacts on the digital economy and digital security. Then learn from those impacts as they draft similar regulation. With DMA, the EU intended to make the digital economy more fair. Its level of openness may compromise security. DMA requires that mobile devices are open to alternative app stores and open web downloads. This means technology companies like Apple and Google must add new layers of protection to safeguard users from potentially malicious apps.
As the U.S. and other countries, including Japan, India, consider similar legislation, it is a good time to press the pause button and carefully observe what happens in the EU as a result of the DMA. This is prudent given the increasing mobile device threats from Chinese, Russian, and even European actors.
What will the DMA’s security impact be on consumers as they purchase and install new apps?
The changes driven by the DMA certainly increase the attack surface facing mobile device users. With more app stores and increased ability to install apps directly from the web, more users will click on links to install free or discounted apps. This will likely increase the the number of malicious app installs.
Read the full opinion essay in Real Clear Policy.
Michael Chertoff is executive chairman of The Chertoff Group, a security and risk-management firm with clients in the technology sector, some of whom have an interest in this topic. He served as the second U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, 2005-09. He is the author of Exploding Data: Reclaiming Our Cyber Security in the Digital Age.
