The Data Compliance Imperative

To help your organisation enhance data compliance, Sean Swords, Pre-Sales Lead for Modern Work discusses the key components of data compliance and just what the new legislation means for your business.

The author of this page: Sean Swords
Sean Swords, Modern Workplace Pre-Sales Lead Jul 16, 2024

Critical for safeguarding business data, the data compliance imperative has taken centre stage following a series of high-profile incidents and shifts in both local and international legislation, in particular the revision of the Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) which comes into effect from the 17th of October 2024.

Data compliance refers to adherence to laws, regulations, standards, and policies that govern the collection, storage, use, and protection of data. It ensures that data is handled in a manner that meets legal and regulatory requirements to protect privacy, ensure data security, and uphold the rights of data subjects. Ensuring data compliance is crucial for organisations to avoid legal penalties, protect their reputation, and build trust with customers and stakeholders.

The key components of data compliance are:

  1. Legal and Regulatory Requirements: This involves understanding and adhering to specific international, local and industry-specific data protection laws and regulations such as NIS2 (Network and Information Security Directive) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

  2. Data Governance: Establishing policies and procedures for data management, including data quality, data lifecycle management, and data access controls.

  3. Privacy and Security: Implementing measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, breaches, and other security threats. This includes encryption, access controls, and regular cybersecurity audits.

  4. Data Subject Rights: Ensuring that individuals can exercise their rights over their personal data, such as the right to access, rectify, delete, or restrict the processing of their data.

  5. Audit and Monitoring: Regularly reviewing and auditing data handling practices to ensure ongoing compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

  6. Training and Awareness: Educating employees about data compliance requirements and best practices for handling data securely and ethically.

While great strides have been made in terms of cyber security, knowledge gaps in organisations regarding data compliance increase an organisation's exposure in the event of an accidental or malicious data breach. In fact, some 2,289,599,662 known record breaches in 556 publicly disclosed incidents were reported in Europe between January and June this year.

Take for example a scenario where data governance has been overlooked and the business continues to hold personal data pertaining to staff or customers beyond its statutory retention period. In this scenario a data breach not only exposes the business to the reputational and financial penalty caused by the initial leak, but there is also a secondary and arguably more serious impact -given it could have been prevented through robust data lifecycle management - the exposure of sensitive data, that should have been disposed of. Most organisations are at risk of having their cyber defences attacked through no fault of their own, but leaving data lying around that should have been disposed of is negligent and carries additional penalties and damage.

Similarly, the evolution of the NIS2 directive, introduced by the European Commission and coming into effect on October 17th, 2024, will require organisations to review existing data policies and systems to ensure compliance. Key changes to the NIS2 policy include. 

  1. Expanded Scope: NIS2 broadens the range of sectors required to comply with data compliance regulations. It includes sectors such as postal and courier services, data centre services, wastewater and waste management, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and chemicals.

  2. Stricter Incident Reporting: NIS2 introduces much stricter incident reporting requirements encouraging organisations to adopt robust data compliance practices to manage and report security incidents effectively.

  3. Enhanced Cybersecurity Measures: NIS2 obliges organisations to implement technical and process measures to manage security risks. It provides a comprehensive list of measures that should be implemented, including basic cyber hygiene practices, cybersecurity training, cryptography, encryption, and multi-factor authentication. 

  4. Increased Penalties: NIS2 introduces sizeable fines for non-compliance, which serves as a strong incentive for organisations to adopt strong compliance practices to avoid these penalties.

To help address these challenges, leading business solutions provider Microsoft has consolidated their best-in-breed compliance solutions including Microsoft 365 compliance and Azure security services into one easy-to-use platform, Microsoft Purview. Designed to help your organisation govern, protect, and manage data wherever it lives, Microsoft Purview will ensure your business remains firmly in control over your entire data estate, not just the content hosted in Microsoft platforms.

To find out more about how your organisation can safeguard data compliance, contact a member of our team today.

 

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