Where Cross-Border Data Protection Meets Emergency Preparedness  

We all know cybersecurity threats pose risks to business continuity, customer satisfaction, privacy, profitability, and brand reputation. That's why IT security—including handling incidents like data breaches, ransomware attacks, and hacking—is integral to emergency preparedness and critical event management for any organization.

But now, many companies face a new challenge: the complex, rapidly evolving landscape of data protection regulations.

To better understand the issues, I spoke with Hasan Özer, Data Protection & IT Security Compliance Manager for Stroër Content Group, at the CISO 360 Global Congress. "The sheer scale of the problem is outstanding," Özer said, "if we consider that the global datasphere is set to reach over 182 zettabytes in 2025 alone." When he paused to let that number sink in, my mind began spinning, imagining terabyte upon terabyte… wow.

"But not only that: we also need to consider data residency, sovereignty, and localization in our globalized world where data, data processing, and related legislation cross borders." He showed me a map to illustrate the issues.

"Keeping on top of the data, the people, and the processes alone is difficult enough," I said, "but now there’s this complex regulatory landscape with multi-million dollar penalties for failure to comply with timely notifications about data breaches. Haven’t some major tech companies missed those deadlines?" I asked.

“Yes, some have! An Incident Manager at a SaaS company told me recently that they had 72 hours to notify under GDPR, but their US legal team wanted to complete the investigation first. The conflict delayed a response by critical hours."

"And what does a delayed response mean?"

"Well, I won’t speak to this particular company’s situation, but I can say that penalties can be 65% higher when deadlines are missed."

"So the stakes could hardly be higher," I concluded. "Now, let’s talk solutions."

Mind the Data Breach: Prepare Your Playbook

"The best way forward is to develop a playbook in advance," said Özer, "especially as any situation will require agility in the moment to respond flexibly to the unique risks posed by any data breach."

He gave me this helpful breakdown for scheduling such a playbook:

• First Hour: Mobilize the team to identify affected data and jurisdictions.
• Hours 2-4: Engage counsel for each jurisdiction.
• Hours 4-8: Prepare notification templates based on requirements.
• By Hour 24: Submit notifications where required.
• By Hour 72: Complete all time-sensitive notifications.

That’s great advice. And that got me thinking about how a playbook might inform best practices for emergency preparedness and critical event management.

5 Tips for Critical Event Management

Here are my top 5 tips to translate your data protection playbook into action:

1. Ensure your emergency preparedness plan and training exercises are designed to deal with data protection and cyber-incidents such as data breaches, ransomware attacks, and hacks.
2. Establish robust cross-functional collaborations in advance, including IT, emergency response teams, customer support, the C-suite, and PR, among others.
3. Implement a SaaS-based critical event management solution that enables you to respond, recover, and report/notify even when your organization’s network goes down.
4. During an incident, keep the C-suite and key stakeholders informed of any business impacts, including compliance issues.
5. Stay informed and agile. Ensure your emergency preparedness plans remain current with existing and emerging legislation.

Given the complexities of existing and emerging data protection laws and regulatory frameworks, these tips certainly won't be the last word on the subject.

What do you think? I’m keen to continue this dialogue as we at RAYVN work with prospects and customers to address cybersecurity threats and implement best practices for dealing with any data breach when it occurs.