2024-07-19 21:38:53
Millions of people were affected by the mistake of an IT security company. But the real cause lies elsewhere: in the digital monocultures that threaten our security and contradict the principles of the market economy.
Airports had to cease operations, hospitals postponed operations, city administrations and banks were unable to operate, and some TV stations’ screens remained black. The so-called critical infrastructure is affected. A faulty update from an IT security company has led to systems failing worldwide. This one IT company – Crowdstrike – supplies thousands of customers, including Microsoft.
As always, one domino is enough to bring down many others. But behind the technical causes of the collapse there is of course another reason: we place our security, our lives, our plans in the hands of far too few digital players. If one of them makes a mistake, it has dramatic consequences for millions of people. The foundation of our digital world has too few pillars.
Microsoft, Apple, Meta and Amazon dominate a market in which competition is hardly possible anymore. The tech giants have divided it up among themselves. Anyone who wants to get in has a hard time. The best they have is as a supplier – like Crowdstrike as a security company. And even among these smaller players, who are allowed to swim in the shadow of the big players, there is not much competition.
The founding fathers of the market economy already knew that competition stimulates business and produces better products. But if only a few companies control the digital infrastructure, they have immense power and control over critical systems. A mistake or a targeted attack on these companies has far-reaching consequences. The risk of systemic failures, which we have now experienced, is extremely high. And if only a few companies dominate, a technical monoculture emerges. In case of doubt, there is no safety net.
It is probably even a stroke of luck that the cause of the huge IT disruption was a technical problem. A hacker attack could have potentially put the data of millions of people into the hands of criminals. Just this spring, Andreas Freund from Berlin discovered a loophole in the Linux operating system that would have made a hacker attack of unimaginable proportions possible. “This German saved the Internet” was the headline at the time.
So the digital threat of errors or criminals is on our doorstep, and sometimes it even happens.
So what is the consequence? How should we react? Firstly, the market needs to be regulated again by the state, i.e. institutionally. This means creating a more genuine market economy, with more players and more choice. This reduces the risk of failures. And if one does occur, not so many people will be affected.
Perhaps we should also be aware that there is still an analogue world that we can switch to if necessary. But we must not forget our analogue skills. Hospitals were already performing operations before digitalisation, planes could take off and TV channels could broadcast. Anyone who puts their work entirely in digital hands should still be able to master the analogue craft to be on the safe side.