The Big Tech Show: The TikTok Taoiseach and the case for banning the app on security grounds

The Big Tech Show

Is TikTok a security risk? Should the Taoiseach be using it against the advice of the National Cyber Security Council? Or is he one of the exceptional cases that is allowed?

The National Cyber Security Council (NCSC) said last year that public officials shouldn't use TikTok on official devices unless in exceptional circumstances. According to Richard Brown, Director of the NCSC, there are risks in a cybersecurity sense that user data that's being collected may be made available to other governments. He pointed out that the data might be exfiltrated via the application, which the NCSC cannot rule out.

On The Big Tech Show this week Adrian is joined by Independent Senator, Gerard Craughwell and chairperson of Cyber Ireland and CEO of Ward Solutions an Echo company, Pat Larkin.

Adrian started by asking Pat Larkin if Taoiseach Simon Harris’s use of TikTok inside government buildings is a national security risk. The cyber security expert made the point that Harris isn’t using the application on a governmental device which is standard practice when it comes to devices that contain sensitive information.

You can listen to the full episode below or wherever you get your podcasts.