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Compliance through security

Sophos completed a series of roadshows across South Africa with the aim to enable the company’s local partners to assist South African companies in compliance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) as well as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) across the European Union.

Businesses are facing an increasing regulatory landscape as governments look to protect their citizens’ privacy. In South Africa, the Protection of Personal Information Act affects all organisations that may hold any personal data on South African citizens, and in May 2018 the GDPR will be enforced across the EU. The GDPR creates a single data protection regulation to update and replace EU member country-specific legislations. The GDPR affects all organisations that hold personal data on EU citizens, regardless of where the organisation is based.

Sophos’ South African roadshows took place during September, whereby executives from Sophos addressed over 200 partners on the importance of implementing a data protection strategy that includes encryption and anti-malware security.

Speaking on the roadshow, Harish Chib, VP Middle East and Africa, said, “Companies in South Africa need to be aware of the changes in legislation that protect sensitive data. The POPI legislation already demands that companies holding citizens private data have adequate protection, and now the GDPR impacts any company doing business with European citizens – regardless of where the company is based. Companies from South Africa who do business with EU companies should comply with GDPR once it is enforced.

“For the many companies that must comply with these new legislations, the best way to prepare is to implement a solid data protection strategy that guards against loss of data, whether through malicious or accidental methods. Creating a data protection strategy can be a daunting process, especially if it hasn’t previously been a focus area for organisations. Securing against major threats that cause data breaches is a great place to begin and Sophos recommends three steps to achieve it – stop the top causes of data loss, stop threats at the door and stop human error”, Chib added.

During the roadshows, Sophos educated its partners on three steps to tackle the data protection challenge:

1. Stop the top causes of data loss:

• Implement solutions to prevent malware and ransomware.

• Keep your devices and data secure if lost or stolen with file and disk encryption.

2. Stop threats at the door:

• Implement a multilayered security strategy with firewalls.

• Encrypt or block sensitive data in emails.

3. Reduce human error:

• Encrypt individual files to keep them secure even when they leave your network or devices.

• Reduce access to sensitive files to only authorised recipients.

For more information, www.sophos.com

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