Essential information for companies on international cybersecurity compliance

Global cybersecurity regulatory and compliance requirements are constantly changing, making it increasingly difficult for US companies to expand internationally. Thanks to laws like GDPR, the UK and Europe have typically been ahead of the US in terms of data privacy regulation and compliance. This regulatory gap challenges American businesses looking to expand globally and offers valuable lessons.

Understanding these regional differences is crucial. Here’s what US companies can learn from EU and UK cybersecurity compliance.

Navigating Contrasts: Privacy Regulations in Different Jurisdictions

It has become common for the EU and the UK to be ahead of the US in implementing data privacy regulations. After Brexit, UK privacy laws are mainly governed by its own version of the GDPR (UK GDPR), alongside the Data Protection Act 2018, which maintains similar standards to the GDPR. EU GDPR.

The United States is much more fragmented, with both federal and state laws governing data privacy. The first major data privacy law was the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which was amended and expanded by California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA).

The CCPA is the most common privacy regulation enforced in the US. Many companies, even those outside of California, often state that they follow CCPA rules and plan to adhere to other future regulations. Many of these regulations are based on or similar to the GDPR, and much of the proposed privacy legislation coming out is also inspired by the GDPR.

In general, Europe tends to be much more pro-regulatory, while the US tends to be much more anti-regulatory. A good example is when the EU required Apple to switch from Lightning to USB-C adapters for all devices. This wasn’t even considered in the US, but it was more cost-effective for Apple to standardize USB-C globally.

The US agrees to let the market decide how companies should operate, while Europe is more prescriptive with its regulations. There is a feeling in the US that AI should not be regulated too soon because its capabilities are not yet fully understood and premature regulation could limit its growth.

Overcoming the Global Compliance Challenges U.S. Businesses Face

US companies often face overlapping compliance regulations in different states and countries. This fragmentation of regulations can hinder a company’s cybersecurity and privacy strategy, creating complexity and inconsistency in security measures.

Fortunately, many new companies focused on improving data privacy, protection and security have emerged to make this process easier in recent years. They aim to help automate tedious parts of these processes and help companies comply with regulations like GDPR and CCPA.

While compliance with these regulations adds a burden on companies, it is critical to establishing and maintaining critical security and privacy controls and protecting against a wide range of cyber threats. This is an important area where the US can learn from the UK. Every organization should implement strong data management practices, whether required by law or not, to ensure a solid foundation for managing internal and customer and partner data.

Look for strong security and privacy partners

One way to help ensure strong security and privacy controls are in place is to partner with organizations that offer cybersecurity as a service.

Companies focused on cybersecurity and privacy can help you implement best practices, expand security and compliance offerings to support your customers, and help them adhere to all compliance regulations, both in the US and internationally. They can also help your customers prepare for and complete an audit and integrate technologies that provide customers with a customized solution based on their unique security requirements.

Using artificial intelligence to streamline cross-border compliance

AI is already starting to play an important role in respecting privacy and security. Generative AI can help remediate and detect security and privacy issues as they arise, helping enforce data security controls and ensure consistency across different frameworks.

Many data privacy frameworks such as GDPR and CCPAhave overlapping requirements. Using artificial intelligence can help identify similarities between these frames to save time. For example, most frameworks require securing data at rest and in transit. AI tools can address this once and then apply it widely.