GCP Analytics Data Exposure Remediation

Learn how to fix exposure of analytics data in GCP environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for GDPR compliance.

data exposure

GDPR

gcp

Why It Matters

The core goal is to quickly remediate exposed analytics data within your GCP environment, ensuring sensitive datasets are properly secured before they lead to compliance violations or data breaches. Fixing analytics data exposure in GCP is crucial for organizations subject to GDPR, as it helps you demonstrate proactive data protection measures and prevents unauthorized access to personal and business intelligence data.

Primary Risk: Data exposure of analytics datasets

Relevant Regulation: GDPR General Data Protection Regulation

Effective remediation provides immediate security improvements, enabling automated policy enforcement and maintaining ongoing compliance posture.

Prerequisites

Permissions & Roles

  • GCP project owner or security admin
  • BigQuery admin, Cloud Storage admin privileges
  • Ability to modify IAM policies and dataset permissions

External Tools

  • Google Cloud CLI (gcloud)
  • Cyera DSPM account
  • API credentials

Prior Setup

  • GCP project provisioned
  • BigQuery datasets identified
  • Cloud Storage buckets cataloged
  • Network security policies defined

Introducing Cyera

Cyera is a modern Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) platform that discovers, classifies, and continuously monitors your sensitive data across cloud services. By leveraging AI-powered natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms, Cyera automatically identifies exposed analytics data in GCP, applies contextual risk scoring, and provides actionable remediation workflows to secure your datasets in real time.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Assess current exposure levels

Use Cyera's discovery engine to identify all analytics datasets with public access, overly permissive IAM roles, or inadequate encryption. Review BigQuery datasets, Cloud Storage buckets, and Data Studio connections.

gcloud auth application-default login

2
Implement access controls

In the Cyera portal, navigate to Remediation → GCP Analytics. Review flagged resources and apply recommended IAM policies. Remove public access, restrict service accounts, and implement row-level security where needed.

Enable data governance controls

Configure BigQuery column-level security, apply data masking policies, and enable audit logging. Use Cloud DLP API integration to automatically redact sensitive fields in analytics queries and reports.

4
Validate remediation and monitor

Verify that access restrictions are working correctly, test data masking policies, and establish continuous monitoring. Set up alerts for new analytics data exposures and schedule regular compliance scans.

Architecture & Workflow

GCP Resource Manager

Source of project and resource metadata

Cyera Connector

Scans BigQuery, Cloud Storage, and analytics services

Cyera AI Engine

Applies NLP models and risk assessment algorithms

Remediation & Governance

Automated policy enforcement and compliance reporting

Remediation Flow Summary

Identify Exposures → Apply Policies → Test Controls → Monitor Compliance

Best Practices & Tips

Security Hardening

  • Enable VPC Service Controls for BigQuery
  • Use customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK)
  • Implement network-level access restrictions

Access Management

  • Apply principle of least privilege consistently
  • Use groups instead of individual user assignments
  • Regular review and rotation of service account keys

Common Pitfalls

  • Overlooking legacy datasets with inherited permissions
  • Forgetting to secure Data Studio data sources
  • Not testing data masking policies thoroughly

References & Further Reading

Next Steps

🛡️ Prevent: Set up proactive analytics data protection 🔍 Detect: Implement analytics data discovery scanning