A Feature-Driven Analysis of Global Cybersecurity Regulations and their Impact on Safeguarding Data Value

An important goal of Chief Data Officers (CDOs) and data quality efforts is to increase the value of an organization's data. But that increased value makes the data an even more desirable target for cyberattacks, which have become more frequent, sophisticated, and impactful. In addition to the efforts that individual companies have made, the governments worldwide are responding by introducing or proposing new cybersecurity regulations to help protect that data, making security an important aspect of data quality. This study offers a novel perspective on the evolving global cybersecurity regulatory environment. Drawing on a comprehensive comparative analysis of nearly 200 regulatory frameworks from a wide array of international and national jurisdictions, the research identifies a core group of regulatory features that are systematically organized into five principal thematic categories. In particular, this research employs an integrated classification schema and a multidimensional taxonomy to facilitate more precise navigation of the complex regulatory landscape. Using a structured qualitative synthesis approach combining elements of review and cross-jurisdictional mapping, the analysis highlights notable disparities in regional regulatory focus, with Data Privacy, Incident Reporting, and Security by Design standing out as the most recurrent regulatory priorities. A significant outcome of the study is the identification of varying synergy levels between regulatory features, with high integration observed in Data Privacy and Cross-Border Data Transfer, medium synergy in areas such as Incident Reporting and Risk Management, and low synergy between Security by Design and Emerging Technologies. Therefore, by examining how various regulatory features align—or fail to align—across jurisdictions, the study provides critical insights for legislators, regulators, and data quality leaders and researchers. The paper concludes with targeted recommendations to support more consistent, adaptive, and future-resilient cybersecurity governance worldwide to further improve data quality.