White Paper ‘quashes’ EMEA data protection law myths

The white paper identifies four myths surrounding the approaches that EMEA based organisations take towards data handling. The myths are often attributed to concerns that using a MSSP is inconsistent with data protection laws. The myths are:
· Using a third party to process personal data isn’t permitted
· Transferring data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) can’t happen under any circumstances
· Organisations can’t use cloud-based services for processing or storing any personal data
· Foreign Security and Law Enforcement Authorities (LEAs) automatically have access to personal data

The white paper discusses and debunks these misconceptions, explaining why they don’t align with the current laws regarding how businesses approach processing personal data.

The security landscape is becoming tougher; the increase in the volume and types of cyber-attacks is making it harder for organisations to protect themselves and the laws governing data are becoming stricter. Many organisations use external security service providers like MSSPs to ensure compliance with country level, EMEA and global laws and the whitepaper explains why and how legislation supports this.

Peter Heim, sales director EMEA, Dell SecureWorks commented: “Changes to the workplace such as mobile working, the move to cloud based services and trends such as BYOX mean that security teams have to contend with threats from all angles. The European data protection laws have some of the highest standards in the world, and so it’s crucial that businesses understand what steps they are expected to take to protect data and how this can be done efficiently and cost effectively.”

“There are a multitude of extremely complex laws and many organisations are confused by which laws they need to comply with and how they do this. This white paper, which has been prepared in collaboration with FFW who are experts in regulatory law, helps to clarify an increasingly complicated business critical issue and guide implementation, protection and compliance in the right areas,” concluded Heim.

“Compliance with security and data protection laws is vital but many business leaders don’t know where to start when considering these intricate laws,” commented Stewart Room, partner, Field Fisher Waterhouse. “It is no wonder businesses lack clarity as the requirements vary for different countries, within the EEA and globally. We have developed this whitepaper with Dell SecureWorks to provide guidance and reassurance for organisations and we have found that the laws in EMEA support the use of external providers such as good quality MSSPs which provide better data security because of their enhanced level of expertise, awareness and threat intelligence.”