What are you doing to stay compliant?

Compliance PRO – Data Security & Privacy

GDPR — the European Union’s data privacy and protection regulation — has set a 72-hour deadline to report the nature of a breach and the approximate number of data subjects affected. From the moment a business’ IT team establishes that a breach has occurred, the clock starts clicking.

Is your business capable of adhering to such norms?

The “victim versus victimizer” perception
Let’s assume a business reported a ransomware breach to its stakeholders and the relevant authorities. On one hand, law enforcement agencies investigating the matter would perceive the business as a victim, even if it paid the ransom; on the other hand, regulators might deem the business to be the victimizer of its customers for failing to protect their data.

If the business is found to be non-compliant with the necessary security mandates after an audit, the regulators will undertake punitive action after assessing a list of factors.

Reputational damage
Most customers prefer not to engage with a brand following a data breach. Who would like to associate with a business that can’t protect itself?

While your business could still recover from the financial damage caused by ransomware-induced downtime, rebuilding its reputation and regaining the trust of your customers is a long, tedious and more often than not, futile process. This is one of the main reasons why businesses abstain from reporting a ransomware breach.

You need to cover both ends…

While there isn’t a 100% fail-safe strategy to avoid cybersecurity attacks such as ransomware, your business can still demonstrate its commitment to preventing security breaches or data loss incidents. This is just what compliance regulators, as well as your key stakeholders, look for — how proactively your business can mitigate risk and handle the aftermath of a breach while also adhering to applicable regulations.

Adopting an inclusive approach that involves the best of cybersecurity and compliance is a step in the right direction. Partnering with an experienced MSP that has a track record of protecting businesses from sophisticated cybersecurity threats and non-compliance risks will significantly benefit your business.

Feel free to contact us for a consultation today. Let us help you proactively meet all your cybersecurity and compliance needs.

In addition, to help you protect the security and privacy of your data, we have drafted a checklist titled “CYBERSECURITY CHECKLIST FOR DATA SECURITY AND PRIVACY” that you can download by clicking here.