Businesses Need Education on Cloud Security

Businesses Need Education on Cloud Security

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • Apr 14, 2016

Do you expect C-level executives and senior management to understand the risks and vulnerabilities of the cloud? Research by Intel Security shows that if we want the C-suite to care more about cybersecurity, they are going to need to learn more about cloud.

The State of Cloud Adoption global report surveyed 1,200 IT professionals across 9 different countries and only a third of the respondents felt that their senior management teams fully understood the security implications of cloud.

More than a fifth of the respondents said that data breaches were a top concern across IaaS and private clouds and 72 percent listed compliance as the primary concern across all types of cloud deployments.

High-profile data breaches with major financial and reputational consequences have made data security a top-of-mind concern for C-level executives, the survey found. However, many respondents said there is still a need for more education and increased awareness and understanding of risks associated with storing sensitive data in the cloud.

According to the report, the cloud already has a strong impact in the daily lives of many people and businesses, with an ever-growing number of activities performed on digital devices leveraging cloud computing in some way.

Despite IT departments’ activity to eliminate shadow IT activity, 52 percent of the lines of business still expect IT to secure their unauthorized department-sourced cloud services.

This lack of visibility into cloud usage due to shadow IT appears to be causing IT departments concern when it comes to security, with 58 percent of respondents surveyed by the Sans Institute in Orchestrating Security in the Cloud noting that shadow IT has a negative impact on their ability to keep cloud services secure.

“With the appropriate security in place, cloud computing can be harnessed to move businesses forward but an element of education is required, particularly as cloud security decision-making moves to the boardroom,” Intel Security’s UK channel boss, Stuart Taylor said. “Our research reveals that while cloud adoption is on the increase, we must address the issue of trust in the cloud in order to ensure customers can truly make the most of this technology.”

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

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