Page 13 - Cyber Defense eMagazine - June 2018

This is an issue which has obviously become a very hot topic in light of the recent
Facebook data breach. It’s a terribly complicated set of regulations – far too lengthy to
go into any detail here – but in the simplest terms possible, its intention is to protect
your personal data and your privacy.

So, new regulations, and ones which have good justification – how much trouble could
they possibly cause?

THE REALITY OF THE REGULATIONS

A moment ago, we mentioned that the regulations were far too complex to go into detail
here, and this is no exaggeration. Based on estimates derived from 1000 senior
executives across Europe, in a piece of research known as Finding the Missing Link in
GDPR Compliance, it is estimated that many businesses will spend an astonishing 172
hours a month on GDPR data searches. In other words, it requires another member of
staff working full time purely on this issue.

And if you fail to meet these regulations, then the fines can be devastating, going up to
over £20 million or 4% of annual turnover. This could potentially spell the end of one in
five European businesses, according to Petter Nordwell, Director of Marketing at
Sophos.

WHO IS REALLY THE HARDEST HIT?

It’s important at this point to make clear that these regulations do go after the largest
businesses harder, with tougher fines and penalties for example. Not only that, but a
bigger company usually means more data, and therefore a bigger challenge to be met.

However, it will still likely impact smaller businesses more. One major issue is that small
businesses simply don’t seem to be taking this as seriously as they should, cutting it
very fine to the May deadline. 90% of small businesses were not fully prepared by the
end of February 2018, according to the FSB, with many completely unaware of the
issue.

Furthermore, there’s the simple reality of whether or not they can afford to put aside the
amount of work hours and the costs associated with that in order to deal with the issue
in time. This is where the resources of a large business really give them an advantage.

Large, small and medium businesses are all facing this challenge. However, smaller
businesses may be going in the most unprepared, or not prepared at all. They might
find themselves pushed out of business in the face of tough regulations and the weight
of the competition, who have better resources at their disposal.

13 Cyber Defense eMagazine – June 2018 Edition
Copyright © 2018, Cyber Defense Magazine, All rights reserved worldwide.