CCSP Legal, Risk, and Compliance Practice Question
Under GDPR, a cloud data controller must notify the supervisory authority of a personal data breach within what timeframe?
⚠ Common exam trap
CCSP often tests the specific 72-hour GDPR breach notification window, and candidates may confuse it with other timelines such as the 24-hour notification for NIS2 or the 30-day notification for HIPAA, leading to wrong answer choices.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
72 hours
GDPR Article 33 mandates that a data controller notify the competent supervisory authority of a personal data breach without undue delay and, where feasible, no later than 72 hours after becoming aware of the breach. This 72-hour window is a strict requirement unless the breach is unlikely to result in a risk to data subjects' rights and freedoms.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
24 hours
Why it's wrong here
GDPR Article 33 sets the supervisory authority notification deadline at 72 hours, not 24. The 24-hour figure is tempting because it mirrors breach notification timelines in other regimes and internal security-operations escalation targets, but it does not reflect the GDPR's actual statutory window.
- ✓
72 hours
Why this is correct
GDPR Article 33 requires controllers to notify the supervisory authority of a personal data breach within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, unless the breach is unlikely to result in a risk to data subjects' rights and freedoms.
- ✗
7 days
Why it's wrong here
GDPR Article 33 requires notification within 72 hours of awareness, so 7 days exceeds the statutory deadline. A week is tempting because it resembles timelines in other breach regimes and allows fuller investigation, but the regulation fixes 72 hours for supervisory authority notification.
- ✗
48 hours
Why it's wrong here
GDPR Article 33 mandates notification within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, so 48 hours misstates the statutory deadline. It is tempting because 48 hours feels like a tighter, safer margin than 72, and shorter internal escalation windows are common in incident response policies, but the regulation fixes 72 hours.
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About these practice questions
This CCSP question is part of Courseiva's 934-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISC2 exam blueprint
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CCSP exam.