TikTok Deal Won't End Enterprise Risks

With a deal about the future of TikTok in the US beginning to take shape, cybersecurity professionals are urged to look beyond ownership changes. The Wall Street Journal and other outlets reported that a consortium of US technology firms, venture capitalists and private equity investors would own around 80% of TikTok’s US operations, including Oracle which currently hosts and manages US user data, as part of a new US-based entity with a majority US board and one government-designated member.

According to Adam Marrè, chief information security officer at Arctic Wolf, moving US operations under majority US ownership and having data managed in Texas would reduce direct foreign state access, but transparency, accountability and ongoing oversight remain essential. The deal still leaves TikTok as a data-intensive platform, so the biggest enterprise risk is thought to be social engineering and data leakage through employee activity, even with structural changes.

Citations also point to concerns over algorithm licensing and data handling, with experts emphasising that security cannot be reduced to data location alone.