As 2018 draws to a close, it’s been a fascinating year in the IT security community. From record-breaking data breaches, new regulations and the Meltdown and Spectre debacle, we can certainly say it’s been eventful. To round the year off, we thought it would be interesting to ask some of our regular contributors (and followers on Twitter) what their standout moments were.

May 25, 2018 was the deadline for GDPR compliance. The media was abuzz. Businesses were rushing to update their privacy policy page. Companies were emailing newsletter subscribers to approve updated privacy policies. Everybody seemed to be paying attention to this new law, which appeared to be the beginning of a new dawn in data privacy. Or was it?

This summer, California passed groundbreaking privacy rights legislation through the California Consumer Privacy Act. The law takes effect January 1, 2020 but companies need to have data tracking systems in place by the beginning of 2019. Even if your business is not located in California, you may be liable - so here’s everything you need to know to get your data security compliant.

Using Machine Learning to Save Businesses Time and Money as They Comply with the New EU Regulation

The most hyped law on data protection has finally come into effect on May 25, 2018. Passed by the European Parliament on April 14, 2016, it is already being touted as the most stringent data protection law across the world. Prior to GDPR, Data Protection Directive of 1995 was applicable which now stands repealed. Apart from the businesses incorporated in the European Union, GDPR also applies to businesses incorporate outside the European Union but are dealing with the data of EU residents.

There’s much talk about the General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) taking effect on May 25 and its impact on US companies with European operations. As more and more information has been collected electronically over the years, it’s become necessary to mandate that companies better protect this information from being breached. With this mandate, the days of collecting and storing personal information are gone.