'GDPR is one of the best things to happen for data security,' says CIO roundtable

A CIO roundtable states that the EU's General Data Protection Regulation has helped focus board minds on security

The EU's General Data Protection Regulation is one of the best things to happen for data security in recent year. That's the consensus of a recent roundtable of UK-based CIOs, which took place at Computing's IT Leaders Summit.

The group went on to say that the GDPR, and the threat of its fines, has raised security to be a board-level concern.

Introduced in May 2018, the GDPR enables regulators to fine organisations up to 20 million Euros, or four per cent of annual global turnover, whichever is higher.

Another CIO explained that firms need to continue to manage their GDPR compliance, and not believe that the job stopped when the regulation came into force.

"The GDPR didn't stop of the 25th May, it's evolving as will the challenges and the way we manage them."

One CIO explained that the GDPR compliance project at her organisation was run outside IT as a business process, and that it helped raise the profile of other threats.

"The threat of internal incidents, both malicious and accidental, was highlighted by our GDPR compliance process, which has really helped us," she stated.

The event was held under Chatham House rules, so names and organisations are withheld.

Computing has compiled a list of the top GDPR compliance tips from the experts.