Proofpoint has announced its intention to acquire Hornetsecurity (as always in such cases, this still needs to be approved by the antitrust authorities). Our founder and CEO Martin Hager has a very strong opinion on this matter.
“The acquisitions of European cybersecurity providers by US corporations are not merely a market trend – they are a wake-up call. If American investors increasingly take control of critical digital infrastructure, there will be no European security providers in the future. At the same time, there is an increased risk of trade secrets being lost when the transport and storage of sensitive information is outsourced to companies that are not subject to the same values and legal standards.
Martin HAGER, Founder and CEO, Retarus
At a time when Europe urgently needs to strengthen its technological independence, it is negligent of European companies to place critical infrastructure in the hands of providers who are subject to increasingly unpredictable US politics. If we do not act now, we will not only jeopardize local innovation but also become even more dependent on US players. Europe needs more than debates. It needs courageous decisions at national and European level to ensure that cloud and security services are sourced exclusively from European providers. The announced takeover of Hornetsecurity by Proofpoint shows that even in the field of email security, digital sovereignty is not a political buzzword, but an operational necessity.”
