Impact of the GDPR on the Design of SIEM Solutions

Cristiana Modesto, Escola Superior de Gestão e Tecnologia, Instituto Politécnico de Santarém
Filipe Madeira, Escola Superior de Gestão e Tecnologia e Centro de Investigação em Artes e Comunicação Pólo de Literacia Digital e Inclusão Social, Instituto Politécnico de Santarém

Abstract

This article aims to present the impact of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) on the design of SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solutions. SIEM solutions collect information from multiple sources and search to correlate events for detecting anormal activities or even malicious attacks. With the implementation of the GDPR, many applications and software solutions had to be adjusted so that they can comply with the regulation, avoiding penalizing situations for their manufacturers and for the users of these same solutions. Thus, we seek to identify the main characteristics of the SIEM systems that have implications for the GDPR in force. By analyzing Wazuh and Splunk solutions, we seek to highlight the most impactful characteristics with this regulation, and thus facilitate the design and selection of SIEM solutions in accordance with the GDPR.