Achieving GDPR Compliance with Forcepoint CASB

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mandates that organizations handling EU citizens' data must enforce strict privacy, protection, and governance measures. In today’s cloud-first, meeting these requirements across multiple SaaS applications is a challenge. Forcepoint CASB offers a modern approach to enforce GDPR compliance without compromising productivity.

This blog post outlines how Forcepoint CASB can be used to meet core GDPR obligations such as data discovery, access control, risk monitoring, and incident remediation across cloud environments.

1-  Data Discovery & Classification (Articles 5, 25, 30)

GDPR requires organizations to know what personal data they store and how it’s processed.

How Forcepoint CASB Helps: 

• API-based scanning of data at rest across multiple SaaS applications like Microsoft 365, Google Drive, Salesforce, and Dropbox.
• Automatic classification of personal and sensitive data (e.g., PII, Credit Card numbers, health data, etc.).
• Custom and built-in data patterns aligned with GDPR categories.

2- Access Control & Least Privilege Enforcement (Articles 5, 25, 32)

GDPR encourages organizations to enforce role-based access and secure configuration of data access.
 
How Forcepoint CASB Helps:

• User access analysis via API integration, exposing overly permissive or anomalous sharing (e.g., “Anyone with the link” in Google Drive).
• Policy enforcement to restrict external or unauthorized access to personal data.
• Controls for unmanaged devices, ensuring BYOD users are blocked or access is read-only.
   

Fig. 1 - Excerpt from Forcepoint CASB highlighting the most exposed platforms across SaaS applications

3- Behavioral Monitoring & Anomaly Detection (Articles 32, 33)

Organizations must detect breaches and unusual behavior involving personal data.

How Forcepoint CASB Helps:

•  Monitors user activity logs across connected apps through out-of-band APIs.
• Detects risky activities such as external sharing, file deletion, access modifications outside of working hours, and irregular file sharing patterns.
• Provides file history to identify when a file was modified and by whom

4- Policy Enforcement & Data Loss Prevention (Article 32)

GDPR requires that security measures be “appropriate to the risk,” including data protection mechanisms.

How Forcepoint CASB Helps:

• Real-time enforcement of DLP policies across SaaS apps (e.g., block upload of PII to personal email or unsanctioned apps).
• Automated response actions: quarantine files, strip sharing permissions, notify security teams or users.
• Templates and content rules tailored to GDPR-sensitive data.

5- Incident Response & Breach Notification (Articles 33, 34)

GDPR mandates notification of breaches involving personal data within 72 hours. 

How Forcepoint CASB Helps:

• Triggers automated alerts when GDPR-regulated data is accessed, modified, or exfiltrated.
• Incident reports with full metadata (user, file, device, location, activity).
• Supports integration with SIEM/SOAR tools for coordinated response.

6- Audit Trails & Reporting (Article 30, 33, 35)

Organizations must maintain detailed records of data processing and protection efforts.

How Forcepoint CASB Helps:

• Centralized dashboards for data usage, sharing behavior, and policy violations.
• Detailed audit logs of user actions, policy enforcement, and remediation steps.
• Comprehensive logs to demonstrate GDPR control effectiveness during audits.

Fig. 2 - Excerpt from Forcepoint CASB dashboard

Achieving GDPR compliance in multi-cloud environments is complex. However, with Forcepoint CASB, organizations gain the tools to discover, monitor, and protect personal data automatically and continuously. Its seamless API and inline integration with SaaS applications provides a scalable and non-intrusive way to enforce policies, detect threats, and respond quickly.

Learn more about how Forcepoint can help with GDPR compliance, or talk to an expert today.