Welcome to the CAVEAT Weekly Newsletter, where we break down some of the major developments and happenings occurring worldwide when discussing cybersecurity, privacy, digital surveillance, and technology policy.
At 1,650 words, this briefing is about a 7-minute read.
At a glance.
- TikTok will be sold to a US investing group.
- Google ad tech antitrust case begins.
Trump expected to sign order for TikTok deal.
The news.
On Monday, the White House announced that President Trump will sign a new executive order that will formally announce ByteDance’s deal to divest from TikTok. In this deal, Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz have formed a consortium, which will take control of eighty percent of the platform. In this deal, Oracle will provide security for the new entity. ByteDance is expected to hold less than twenty percent of the equity in the United States (US) operations. Additionally, TikTok’s algorithm will be copied and controlled by the US ownership group.
When announcing the initial deal, the White House stated that the proposal would “allow Oracle, as the security provider for this new entity, to inspect it, to study how it behaves and see how it operates.”
The official also announced that per the deal:
“A copy of the content recommendation algorithm…[is] going to be fully inspected and retrained by the security provider on US user data, and then it’s going to be operated by that US entity. It’s going to be continuously monitored as it operates to ensure that it’s behaving appropriately - that it’s not being used for any kind of malicious purpose and that it’s not being unduly influenced.”
The official also stated that “we feel confident that China has approved the deal and that all the necessary regulatory hurdles that go along with final approval of the deal will move forward.”
The knowledge.
Since 2024, the US government has been focusing on ensuring ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, divests from the social media platform. In 2024, the US government passed a law with bipartisan support that would ban the application if it was not sold within a set time frame. While TikTok attempted to overturn the law in 2024 via legal challenge, the challenge was ultimately rejected. In the company’s challenge, TikTok argued that the law was based on “inaccurate, flawed, and hypothetical information” and that it would infringe upon free speech.
With that failure, the original deadline for the company’s forced divestiture was set for January 19th, 2025. However, on January 20th, President Trump signed an executive order to extend the ban’s deadline by an additional seventy-five days. After initially extending this deadline, the administration extended this deadline a second time in April and a third time in June, each via executive order.
Since TikTok rapidly became one of the most popular social media platforms over the past several years, security experts and government officials have been raising concerns related to the company’s ties to the Chinese government. Some of these concerns include both the amount of data that TikTok collects on its users and the risk that the Chinese government could have excessive access to the company’s collected data. With this divestiture, US users should be able to continue using the application while satisfying the concerns that have been raised about the original version of the application.
The impact.
While this sale will take some time to materialize, its ripple effect will extend well beyond its US user base. For users, this divestiture could result in changes to the platform’s algorithm and other aspects of the application’s offerings. These changes could impact how content is recommended, how content spreads, and how people engage with the platform.
For the broader tech industry, this deal is representative of the Trump administration’s growing involvement in the industry. Whereas the former administration signaled its intent to allow a ban to go into effect, the Trump administration used executive actions to both delay the deadline and also significantly involved itself in the deal’s negotiations to ensure one could be reached. This involvement demonstrates the administration’s willingness to take direct action in business operations when it deems it necessary.
Google’s ad tech antitrust trial kicks off.
The news.
On Monday, Google’s antitrust case related to its advertising business began. In this case, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to force Google to divest from its advertising business. More specifically, the DOJ and a group of states are looking to make Google sell AdX, its ad exchange service. Additionally, the DOJ is also looking to require Google to make its advertising auction system open source.
In the DOJ’s opening statement, attorney Julia Tarver Wood emphasized that forcing Google to sell its AdX business was critical to restore competition.
On Google’s side, the company implored the judge not to break up the company and to take a similar approach as taken in Google’s other recent antitrust case involving the company’s search engine business.
The knowledge.
While this portion of the antitrust trial has just begun, this case has been ongoing for several years. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2023, and in April 2025, the US District Court ruled that Google violated antitrust law. According to the Court, Google harmed publishing customers, competitive processes, and consumers. Since that ruling, the DOJ has been adamant about pursuing a forced divestiture. The case has now entered its remediation phase to address Google’s monopoly ruling.
Outside of this case, Google also recently faced another high-profile antitrust lawsuit that centered on its search engine business. Similar to the lawsuit mentioned above, Google was found guilty of acting as a monopoly in 2024. This case came to a recent close when Judge Mehta issued his ruling on the case.
In Judge Mehta’s ruling, he did not require Google to divest from Chrome but did levy other penalties. Judge Mehta’s recommendations included ordering the company to end its practice of using exclusive deals that made Chrome a device’s default search engine. Additionally, Judge Mehta stated that the company should share some of its search data with third parties and advocated for a technological oversight committee.
The impact.
Even after this trial is concluded, it will take several months for Justice Leonie Brinkema to issue her ruling. In the meantime, businesses that utilize Google’s ad services should closely monitor the case’s proceedings.
If Judge Brinkema ruled that Google needs to divest from AdX or impose other remediation solutions, the decision could significantly impact the advertising exchange market. These changes could both create new opportunities and disrupt the current system that many have become accustomed to.
By staying informed on the various proposed remediation solutions, organizations can better mitigate any downstream impacts. These could include impacting current pricing models, new markets forming, and other changes in advertising infrastructure.
Highlighting key conversations.
In this week’s Caveat Podcast, our team looks at the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015. The law, which is set to expire at the end of September, has made very little progress toward being renewed despite its transformational impact. Our team breaks down how this law impacts federal agencies and private industries, and what has caused the bill to not get the necessary traction in Congress.
Like what you read, and curious about the conversation? Head over to the Caveat Podcast for the full scoop and additional compelling insights. Our Caveat Podcast is a weekly show where we discuss topics related to surveillance, digital privacy, cybersecurity law, and policy. Got a question you'd like us to answer on our show? You can send your audio file to caveat@thecyberwire.com. Hope to hear from you.
Other noteworthy stories.
EU agency confirms airport ransomware attack.
What: European airports hit by ransomware attack.
Why: On Monday, the European Union’s (EU) cybersecurity agency stated that the region’s airport disruptions were caused by a ransomware attack. More specifically, the ransomware targeted Collins Aerospace's automated check-in systems.
This attack targeted several major European airports, which affected dozens of flights since last Friday. Some of the targets included London Heathrow and Brussels airports.
Collins Aerospace stated that it was working with the affected airports to help restore full functionality.
A Heathrow spokesperson stated:
“Airlines across Heathrow have implemented contingencies whilst their supplier Collins Aerospace works to resolve an issue with their airline check-in systems at airports across the world.”
Trump administration allows agencies to use Meta AI systems.
What: US agencies are allowed to use Meta AI systems.
Why: On Monday, US agencies were approved to use Meta’s artificial intelligence (AI) system, Llama.
Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum stated with this announcement:
“In alignment with President Trump’s AI Action Plan, [the General Services Administration (GSA)] is dedicated to integrating AI into government operations. Through these OneGov initiatives, GSA is driving an unprecedented acceleration of AI adoption across the federal government.”
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta, stated:
“America is leading on AI, and we want to make sure all Americans see the benefit of AI innovation through better, more efficient public services. With Llama, America’s government agencies can better serve people.”
Secret Service dismantles telecommunications threat.
What: The Secret Service dismantles a massive telecommunications threat.
Why: On Tuesday, the Secret Service announced it had dismantled a network of electronic devices found throughout the tristate area. This network comprised over 300 co-located SIM servers and more than 100,000 SIM cards. These devices were mostly concentrated within a thirty-five-mile radius of the United Nations General Assembly. Outside of launching telephonic threats, the Secret Service stated that these devices could also launch a wide range of telecommunication attacks.
In this announcement, US Secret Service Director Sean Curran stated:
“The potential for disruption to our country’s telecommunications posed by this network of devices cannot be overstated. The US Secret Service’s protective mission is all about prevention, and this investigation makes it clear to potential bad actors that imminent threats to our protectees will be immediately investigated, tracked down, and dismantled.”