Last Thursday marked a year until the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect. That means businesses have roughly 365 days to make the necessary changes to the way in which they operate and manage risk to ensure they abide by the new law.
Essentially, the arrival of GDPR will put the control of personal data back into the hands of the individual, allowing a number of rights including the ability to withdraw said personal data. It also means that organisations cannot simply gather data without good reason and must prove that they are doing all they can to protect the data they do hold…at all times.
GDPR also specifies that organisations have to appoint a data protection officer. It’s a role that has to sit outside of IT and outside of the boardroom to have the independence to ensure the business adheres to the regulation. Why? Because it is vital businesses understand the importance and the responsibility tied to these new regulations.
Last week, VideoSmart underwent in-depth GDPR training sessions, hosted by its appointed data protection officer; and this didn’t start and end with the development team. Each and every team member, including our resident illustrator, took part in this training to ensure we are GDPR prepared. At VideoSmart, we recognise that it is important that we all make threats and data security our concern, not just those with a data processing or security role.
Undoubtedly, the most memorable part of the session was ‘penalties’. Even the least tech savvy person in the room paid close attention when the facts about fines were unleashed. For example, non-compliance penalties could lead to charges of up to €20m, or 4 per cent of a company’s global annual turnover. It’s not a case of opting in or out, it’s the stark realisation of ‘comply or face the consequences.’
According to Cisco’s annual cybersecurity report, today’s average large enterprise can face as many as 70,000 security events per week.
It is possible to be prepared and prevent attacks, which should be a top priority considering the impending consequences of a successful breach. And that’s why data security training should be on your agenda, if it isn’t already.
For more information on VideoSmart, contact us at hello@videosmart.com today.