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Nearly 1/4 of companies haven’t hired a data protection officer

by | Sep 12, 2017 | Public Relations

While companies are preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enactment next year, new research from business-critical data and applications protection firm Imperva suggests that 22 percent haven’t yet hired a Data Protection Officer (DPO).

“A crucial takeaway from this survey is that companies need to be engaging with GDPR compliance now,” said Terry Ray, CTO of Imperva, in a news release. “The fact that a high percentage of respondents said they had already hired a DPO is encouraging. GDPR will rear its head in ways that nobody predicted, so engaging early and being ready for every possibility is absolutely crucial.”

Nearly 1/4 of companies haven’t hired a data protection officer

Of those with no DPO, 52 percent aren’t planning on hiring a DPO until the second half of 2018 or beyond—after GDPR enforcement commences.

Nearly 1/4 of companies haven’t hired a data protection officer

Another revelation from the survey is that when it comes to GDPR, many security professionals are banking on help from machine learning technology. Over half (55 percent) of the security professionals indicated that they believed artificial intelligence or machine learning solutions could bear some of their considerable workload in the next three to five years, with 27 percent suggesting it could even be within the next year or two.

Nearly 1/4 of companies haven’t hired a data protection officer

Conducted June 6-8 in London, at Insecurity Europe 2017, Europe’s largest security focused conference, the in-person survey of 310 IT security professionals is based on responses from attendees including IT pros, managers and executives.

Richard Carufel
Richard Carufel is editor of Bulldog Reporter and the Daily ’Dog, one of the web’s leading sources of PR and marketing communications news and opinions. He has been reporting on the PR and communications industry for over 17 years, and has interviewed hundreds of journalists and PR industry leaders. Reach him at richard.carufel@bulldogreporter.com; @BulldogReporter

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