The Intersection of Data Privacy and Cybersecurity

Data privacy and cybersecurity have risen to the top of corporate agendas since the onset of the global pandemic, fueled by the rapid shift to remote work and accelerating digital transformation roadmaps.

In addition, public interest in data privacy is stronger than ever with tech giants like Apple and Facebook engaged in a PR war over their use of customer data.

This report, conducted with our partners at Okera, summarizes our research into how businesses are responding to these challenges.

Our findings show that digital transformation initiatives are continuing apace and that providing secure access to sensitive data is a key concern for leaders in data governance, security, and privacy teams.

In addition, with increasing volumes of data being stored and shared in the cloud, many security leaders are seeing the benefits of centralized data access and control.

Compliance with fast-evolving data privacy regulations is also a top priority for data governance, security, and privacy leaders, in order to avoid both financial and reputational penalties.

Alongside the survey results, we present highlights from several top executives who shared their views on the intersection of data privacy and cybersecurity, as well as what they believe lies ahead.

Key Findings

• 72% have moved at least half of their organization’s data to the cloud
• 70% are either ‘very confident’ or ‘extremely confident’ that they know where all their data is  located
• 45% are not concerned about penalties and fines due to noncompliance
• The #1 benefit of centralizing data authorization and control is ensuring data security at a fine-grained level
• 94% see compliance with data privacy as a top priority

Better regulatory compliance is the leading driver of data privacy investments

Methodology

This representative survey of 125 data privacy, cybersecurity and data leaders was conducted in April and May 2021.

Respondents included Chief Data and Analytics Officers, Chief Data Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Privacy Officers, Chief Information Security Officers, and Business Information Security Officers, as well as other individuals of similar standing.

The research focused on large companies in North America with 93% of respondents having more than 1000 employees, and 61% having more than 10,000 employees. Participating companies included: Home Depot, Travelers Insurance, Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

We asked the respondents 15 questions about how they are overcoming challenges to enable cyber-secure digital transformation, keeping up with data privacy regulations, and ensuring secure data access and control.

The survey findings were then combined with commentary from ten industry experts to put these unique findings into context.