In a nutshell: Europe's efforts to lessen its dependence on American technology are reaching beyond Windows and cloud services. New figures show EU cybersecurity suppliers growing much faster than their US rivals, as buyers start questioning who actually controls the systems protecting their data. Against a series of tariffs and increasingly strained transatlantic relations, regional cybersecurity suppliers are gaining ground on US giants.
The Register reports that Context tracked a 35% increase in distributor sales of cybersecurity products from EU-headquartered vendors between Q3 2024 and Q3 2026. Overall sales grew 10%, while American suppliers managed 8%.
However, these are tracked distribution sales across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, rather than the entire EU cybersecurity market. European vendors gained almost three percentage points to reach 15% of sales by value. US companies still held 62%, so this isn't exactly an American exodus.
"Digital sovereignty is becoming a buying decision," said Context research vice president Joe Turner. Buyers increasingly want to know who controls encryption keys, who can read sensitive logs, and where information resides. American suppliers remain particularly strong in identity management and cloud security.
The shift comes amid declining trust in the Trump administration as Washington punishes allies with tariffs. Context itself, however, points to organizations reassessing supplier dependencies under European cybersecurity rules, including NIS2 and the Digital Operational Resilience Act, or DORA.
There have been plenty of recent examples of EU countries and companies trying to lessen their reliance on US firms. In September, it was reported that the Netherlands was developing a NixOS-based alternative to Microsoft's software ecosystem. France, meanwhile, outlined plans to move government desktops from Windows to Linux, alongside European alternatives for messaging, videoconferencing, and file transfers.
The push extends beyond the EU. Switzerland committed more than $11 million to a pilot replacing Microsoft 365 with openDesk on 3,000 government computers, potentially paving the way for a much larger rollout. These projects reflect growing discomfort with leaving essential public services dependent on American suppliers.
Actually leaving US Big Tech behind isn't always easy. Denmark's digitalization ministry ended its Office replacement pilot, illustrating how some of these plans are easier said than done.