01Introduction
GDPR governs how personal data of people in the EU is handled, regardless of where the company is. Security failures are among the most common reasons for GDPR fines.
02What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the EU's data protection law, applicable since May 2018. It sets principles for processing personal data and gives individuals rights over their data.
Article 32 requires appropriate technical and organizational security measures, explicitly including a process for regularly testing, assessing and evaluating their effectiveness. Article 33 requires notifying the supervisory authority of a personal data breach within 72 hours. Fines reach €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover.
03How GDPR works
Security under GDPR is risk-based rather than a fixed checklist.
- 1.
Map personal data
Record what personal data is processed, where, why and by whom, often with DSPM tools.
- 2.
Assess risk
Run data protection impact assessments for high-risk processing.
- 3.
Implement and test
Apply measures such as encryption, access control and penetration testing, and test them regularly.
- 4.
Respond
Detect, assess and report breaches within 72 hours, and notify affected people when risk is high.
04Threats and risks
Breaches that lead to fines usually share root causes.
Access control flaws
Applications that let one user see another's data.
Exposed storage
Misconfigured cloud buckets and databases holding personal data.
Processor risk
Vendors processing data on your behalf with weaker controls.
Late notification
Missing the 72-hour window, which compounds penalties.
05How Parameter helps
Parameter provides the regular testing Article 32 asks for, focused on where personal data leaks.
Data exposure testing
The pentesting agents test for broken access control and data leakage in apps and APIs.
Cloud data stores
Cloud Security finds exposed storage and over-privileged access to personal data.
Regular, documented
Continuous testing creates a dated record of effectiveness.
