Is GDPR a priority for businesses in 2022?
Data privacy is a priority objective for businesses today, particularly after the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became enforceable in 2018, as this law protects European citizens’ personal data and requires organizations to change some of their work processes.
GDPR became the model for data protection regulations that have been adopted subsequently in other countries, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States, the GPD (Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados) of Brazil in 2020, and the PDP (Protección de Datos Personales) legislation, governed by Law No. 29733, in Peru.
The adoption of these recent regulations demonstrates the fact that data protection continues to be a highly relevant issue. According to a Gartner study, by 2026, 80% of businesses will invest in solutions dedicated to safeguarding data privacy, instead of betting on a 360º strategy, as the latter relies on obsolete data collection methods that erode customer trust. And this is not an isolated view, with platforms such as Pulse reporting that data privacy is considered a national concern for 89% of the 306 technology leaders surveyed.
Data protection: return on investment
On an economic level, complying with GDPR also has a positive impact. According to Forrester's Total Economic Impact (TEI) report, businesses that invested in data security experienced a return on investment (ROI) of 152% and recouped investment costs in under 6 months.
Apart from ROI, companies from all sectors (whether they are SMEs or large corporations), must be GDPR compliant for two main reasons: to avoid fines and prevent data leaks. This would protect against a reputation crisis and losses that could run into millions of euros, as the number of cyberattacks of this type and the fines applied for flouting GDPR is subjects currently of great interest.
This is exemplified by the data breach affecting 18,000 accounts at the financial institution Credit Suisse this February, the €463,000 fine imposed on the Bank of Ireland for applying insufficient technical and organizational measures to safeguard data security or even the language school in Greece that received a €2,000 fine for failing to comply with data protection regulations in force across Europe.
We are ready to help you and your customers with GDPR compliance
When safeguarding data protection, it is important to implement appropriate EDR solutions that monitor endpoint activity at all times and protects from cyberattacks. WatchGuard Data Control is a data security module fully integrated with WatchGuard EDR and WatchGuard EPDR, available in 16 European countries, and designed to help organizations comply with GDPR regulations.
Data Control monitors, discovers, and classifies company personal data on endpoints. In addition, the solution's customized search engine enables administrators to find any of the organization's files with sensitive or personal data and information in unstructured data (data that is not collected in a database or is contained in another type of structure). It allows the organization's managers, DPO, and other employees to demonstrate that the company maintains exhaustive control of the personal data located on its devices, including how they operate and how data transfer between them takes place. Data Control is a solution that helps businesses avoid the serious consequences of GDPR non-compliance, facilitating the work of officers responsible for protecting the personal data stored and managed by the organization.
Data encryption is remarkably effective at stopping a security breach from escalating into a data breach. Keeping personal data encrypted in storage and during transit is possible with the right encryption and VPN solutions and counting with a cloud-ready network security visibility technology like WatchGuard Firebox and WatchGuard Full Encryption.
While not specifically required by GDPR, MFA is a key technology to secure access to systems with personal data using single-factor credentials. Our AuthPoint service provides strong multi-factor authentication (MFA) on an easy-to-manage Cloud platform with a friendly mobile app - bringing effective security together with a low total cost of ownership.
WatchGuard is ready to help you and your customers with GDPR compliance with adapted cybersecurity solutions in a range of security areas.
