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There is a safety issue in that data previously only visible internally is now also exposed to the customer/user and any unauthorized person successfully preten

by Jach 8y ago

There is a safety issue in that data previously only visible internally is now also exposed to the customer/user and any unauthorized person successfully pretending to be them. The problem of "account compromised" now becomes a bigger (potentially much bigger) problem of "account compromised and juicy data is exfiltrated under a GDPR data dump request (and maybe followed by a request for deletion right after maybe making it so that the authorized user can't even know what was taken)".

scrollaway 8y ago
That seems like a huge reach. Most of the data that affects users can be one way or another acquired if you're logged in. Furthermore GDPR requests are often handled outside the account itself, except by companies that have the resources to automate them (and those companies usually have a lot of security resources). I'll give you though that the addition of human processes in there present more security risks. I'm doubtful about the addition of safety risks though. I dunno, this all seems like an extension of the risks we already have. More data, what of it? If an account with sensitive data is compromised, you're most likely fucked regardless of whether the hacker gets a hold of that data.
- Jach 8y ago
  It is kind of minor but still necessary to think about. The difference is that "sensitive data" now includes internal data that not even the account had access to or was aware of. You're right it's an extension of current risks rather than a new class, it's only one more attack vector against an existing surface. Before GDPR, the company itself would need to get compromised for that data to be exposed, and that happens often enough. After GDPR, the data for an individual can get exposed just from compromising that individual. Does that data matter? Maybe, maybe not, that's the question with all breaches too. In the good-spirited intention world, post-GDPR the company no longer gathers as much data in the first place, so they can actually reduce/eliminate the impact of that attack surface being broken in either way. I don't see this happening in practice, the desire for more and more data is strong.

by Jach 8y ago

scrollaway 8y ago

That seems like a huge reach. Most of the data that affects users can be one way or another acquired if you're logged in. Furthermore GDPR requests are often handled outside the account itself, except by companies that have the resources to automate them (and those companies usually have a lot of security resources). I'll give you though that the addition of human processes in there present more security risks. I'm doubtful about the addition of safety risks though. I dunno, this all seems like an extension of the risks we already have. More data, what of it? If an account with sensitive data is compromised, you're most likely fucked regardless of whether the hacker gets a hold of that data.

Jach 8y ago
It is kind of minor but still necessary to think about. The difference is that "sensitive data" now includes internal data that not even the account had access to or was aware of. You're right it's an extension of current risks rather than a new class, it's only one more attack vector against an existing surface. Before GDPR, the company itself would need to get compromised for that data to be exposed, and that happens often enough. After GDPR, the data for an individual can get exposed just from compromising that individual. Does that data matter? Maybe, maybe not, that's the question with all breaches too. In the good-spirited intention world, post-GDPR the company no longer gathers as much data in the first place, so they can actually reduce/eliminate the impact of that attack surface being broken in either way. I don't see this happening in practice, the desire for more and more data is strong.