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CyberLegal

Cybersecurity & EU Regulations

Where legal obligations meet technical controls. Understand GDPR, NIS2, DORA, and eIDAS2—and how legal + technical teams work together.

EU Cyber Regulations: Plain-English Overview

GDPR protects personal data; NIS2 raises security and reporting for essential/important entities; DORA targets operational resilience in finance; eIDAS2 sets trust services and digital identity. Together, they define when to prevent, detect, notify, and prove.

1

GDPR

General Data Protection Regulation

What it does:

Protects personal data of EU residents. Requires security measures, breach notification (72 hours to DPAs for certain breaches), and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) for high-risk processing.

Who it applies to:

Any organization processing EU residents' personal data—regardless of where the organization is based.

Key legal-technical intersection:

Security controls (encryption, access controls) are legal requirements under Article 32. Breach detection and notification timelines require coordinated IR processes. Data subject rights need technical implementation.

2

NIS2

Network and Information Security Directive 2

What it does:

Raises security and incident reporting for essential and important entities in critical sectors (energy, transport, finance, health, digital infrastructure). Introduces board accountability and supply chain security obligations.

Who it applies to:

Medium and large organizations in designated sectors, based on size, sector, and criticality. Member states are transposing NIS2 into national law.

Key legal-technical intersection:

Incident reporting: 24-hour early warning, 72-hour detailed notification, final report. Supply chain security requires legal contracts + technical vendor risk assessments. Governance needs board-level oversight with legal + technical briefings.

3

DORA

Digital Operational Resilience Act

What it does:

Targets financial entities (banks, insurers, investment firms, crypto firms) with detailed ICT risk management, third-party risk, incident reporting, and resilience testing requirements.

Who it applies to:

Financial institutions and their critical ICT service providers (cloud, data centers, managed security).

Key legal-technical intersection:

ICT risk management maps security controls to DORA requirements. Third-party risk needs legal contracts (exit plans, audit rights) + technical criticality assessments. Testing includes threat-led penetration testing (TLPT) with legal oversight.

4

eIDAS2

Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services

What it does:

Updates trust services (e-signatures, seals, time stamps, certificates) and introduces a framework for digital identity wallets across the EU.

Who it applies to:

Trust service providers (TSPs), organizations relying on qualified electronic signatures, and eventually users of EU Digital Identity Wallets.

Key legal-technical intersection:

Trust services require legal licensing + technical security audits. Digital wallets need privacy (GDPR), security (technical architecture), and cross-border recognition (legal framework).

How Legal + MSSP Work Together

Effective incident response and compliance require one team with two specialties: legal counsel and technical responders working from a shared playbook.

Legal Counsel

  • Notification strategy
  • Regulator liaison
  • Drafting notices & Q&As
  • Attorney-client privilege protection
  • Contractual liability analysis

MSSP/Technical Team

  • Threat containment & eradication
  • Forensic analysis & root cause
  • Log collection & evidence preservation
  • Technical remediation & patching
  • Vendor coordination (EDR, SIEM, etc.)

The Shared Playbook

Effective incident response requires joint ownership of:

Incident response runbooks (who does what, when)
Log retention policies (legal hold + technical capabilities)
Escalation matrices (when to call legal/MSSP/board)
Reporting timelines (GDPR 72h, NIS2 24/72h, DORA 24/72h)
Communications (legal drafts notices, MSSP provides technical summaries)

MSSP Services via Partners

We work with vetted MSSP partners who provide comprehensive security operations and incident response capabilities.

SOC/MDR

24/7 Security Operations Center and Managed Detection & Response

Threat Hunting

Proactive threat identification across your environment

EDR/XDR

Endpoint and extended detection & response platforms

SIEM

Security Information and Event Management (log aggregation, correlation, alerting)

Incident Response

P1/P2 SLAs with on-call technical responders

Pen Testing & Red Team

Offensive security assessments and simulation exercises

vCISO

Virtual CISO services for strategic security guidance

Security Architecture

Design and implementation of secure cloud, network, and identity architectures

Geography: EU (with focus on CEE, DACH, Benelux)

Referral process: We introduce you and coordinate joint engagements

+

One Team, Two Specialties

Our joint offering combines legal privilege with technical expertise for seamless incident response and compliance.

Legal Privilege

Our engagement protects analysis and decision-making from discovery. Attorney-client privilege shields sensitive findings during investigations and regulatory proceedings.

Technical Execution

MSSPs execute containment, forensics, and remediation under legal oversight. Technical teams work with privilege protection while maintaining operational effectiveness.

Unified Timeline

One shared incident timeline for both technical and legal reporting. Real-time updates via your preferred communication channels (Slack, Teams, Signal).

Request a Joint Readiness Session

Want to ensure your legal and technical teams are aligned on incident response, compliance, and reporting? Book a joint readiness session with our legal counsel and one of our MSSP partners.

We'll review your:

Incident response playbooks
Notification timelines and decision trees
Log retention and forensic readiness
Vendor contracts and supply chain risk
Compliance artefacts (DPIAs, RoPAs, SoAs)
Request a Readiness Session

Regulatory Resources

GDPR Full TextNIS2 DirectiveDORA RegulationeIDAS2 Regulation