Which of the following would be the greatest concern for a company that is aware of the consequences of non-compliance with government regulations?

Sanctions are official penalties, such as financial fines, operational restrictions, or legal

actions, imposed by authorities for non-compliance with government regulations.

These punitive measures directly translate into significant financial, reputational, and

operational risks for a company, making them the primary and most impactful

consequence, and thus the "greatest concern" when non-compliance occurs. Non-

compliance inherently means breaking the law, and sanctions are the direct enforcement

actions.

· A. Right to be forgotten: This is a specific provision within some data privacy

regulations (e.g., GDPR). Failure to comply with this right is an instance of non-

compliance that leads to sanctions, rather than being the ultimate consequence itself.

· C. External compliance reporting: This is a process or obligation to demonstrate

adherence to regulations. While failure to report correctly can constitute non-

compliance and result in sanctions, reporting itself is a requirement, not the punitive

consequence of overall non-compliance.

· D. Attestation: This is a formal declaration or confirmation of compliance. Similar to

reporting, it is a required activity. Incorrect or missing attestations are forms of non-

compliance that can trigger sanctions, which are the more direct concern.

1. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation), Article 83

("General conditions for imposing administrative fines"). This article details the

administrative fines (a type of sanction) that can be imposed for infringements of the

regulation.

o URL: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679#d1e6394-1-1

o Specifically: Article 83(1) states "Each supervisory authority shall ensure that the

imposition of administrative fines pursuant to this Article in respect of infringements of

this Regulation...shall in each individual case be effective, proportionate and

dissuasive."

2. NIST Special Publication 800-39, "Managing Information Security Risk:

Organization, Mission, and Information System View" (March 2011), Chapter 2,

Section 2.2, Page 8. This publication discusses that risk framing must consider legal

and regulatory requirements, and that adverse impacts from security risks (which

include non-compliance) can include "legal liability [and] financial costs." Sanctions

are the mechanisms that impose such liabilities and costs.

o URL: https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-39/final

o Specifically: Page 8, "Potential adverse impacts from security risks...can

include...damage to reputation; harm to individuals or groups; societal harm; mission

degradation or failure; legal liability; financial costs (e.g., direct losses, recovery costs,

penalties/fines); or loss of confidence in the organization by its partners, customers, or

constituency."

3. Cambridge Dictionary (Cambridge University Press). Definition of "sanction"

(noun, PUNISHMENT). Defines a sanction as "a punishment for not obeying a rule or

law."

o URL: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/sanction (Definition 2

under "sanction noun (PUNISHMENT)")

4. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation), Article 17 ("Right

to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’)"). This article defines a specific regulatory

obligation.

o URL: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679#d1e2539-1-1