Cloud sector rejects proposed know-your-customer EO

Ahead of its imminent approval, the Biden administration's proposed executive order mandating U.S. cloud infrastructure-as-a-service providers to strengthen the verification of their users' identities has received industry opposition due to the increased financial and logistical burdens that would arise from such a rule, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

"The proposed identity verification requirements for IaaS providers and foreign resellers are overly burdensome, not sufficiently targeted, and risk advantaging foreign competitors," said technology industry group NetChoice, which also took note of the significant federal security breaches stemming from the U.S.'s overreliance on Microsoft offerings.

Despite opposition, approval of the rule has been deemed by national security experts as essential amid the growing prevalence of cloud-based services.

"From a national security perspective, cloud-based services and utilities are literally the keys to the Kingdom these days," said former Homeland Security official and Red Branch Consulting founder Paul Rosenzweig.