CS Nov-Dec 2020

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TIME TO TAKE GDPR UP A GEAR
Recent research has revealed that GDPR doesn't go far enough in the eyes of many
IT leaders and employees, who are calling for greater tech regulations around
data protection and cyber security. The research, which comes from Snow
Software, looks at responses from 1,000 IT leaders and 3,000 employees across the
globe. Key findings reveal:
94% of IT leaders and 82% of employees believe more regulations are needed. That's
compared to 74% of employees in 2019 survey. Of those who do want to see more
tech regulations, the two leading areas were data protection (54% of IT leaders/46%
employees) and cybersecurity (54% IT/ 42% employees).
In the UK, 54% of IT would prefer to see regulations that are firmly focused on
cybersecurity first and foremost, followed closely by data protection at 48%. Data
collection and encryption tie for third at 35% each, followed by competition and
universal connectivity at 22% each. British and German IT respondents had the highest
percentage of those who felt the technology industry did not need more regulation,
both reporting 9%. Australians were slightly lower at 6%, while just 2% of American IT
leaders thought additional regulation was not needed.
When asked how the current state of technology regulations made them feel, the
leading sentiment among IT leaders in 2020 was hopeful at 43%. Yet employees
reported being slightly less hopeful - 26% in 2020 down from 29% in 2019.
Unsuprisingly, perhaps, the biggest gap that existed between IT leaders and employees
was around empowerment - in the current year, 32% of IT leaders felt empowered,
versus just 15% of employees.
The biggest year-over-year change related to vulnerability - and this was a positive.
Nearly twice as many employees felt vulnerable in 2019 (24%), compared to 2020
(13% employees and 10% of IT leaders). It suggests organisations are perceived to
be getting a better grip on keeping the workorce safer and more secure. It will be
interesting to see how well such votes of confidence hold up in the wider business
world, as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to exert its impact on us all.
Brian Wall
Editor
Computing Security
brian.wall@btc.co.uk
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www.computingsecurity.co.uk Nov/Dec 2020 computing security
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