Cloud Security Still a Major Concern Among IT Professionals
Despite the huge upturn in cloud-based products and services over recent years, lack of security visibility is still a significant concern for more than 40% of professionals, according to a recent survey conducted by Alien Vault. The research polled 1,000 attendees at RSA Conference 2017.
33 percent of respondents described the state of security monitoring within their organizations as “complex and chaotic,” while 42 percent described the “lack of visibility” into cloud security as a significant concern. The disconnect between increasing reliance on cloud-based technology alongside the confusion and mistrust of its overall security emphasizes the importance of focusing on the effectiveness and transparency of data security when choosing a cloud storage provider.
Obscured by clouds
A surprisingly high proportion of respondents indicated an alarming lack of knowledge when it comes to monitoring the cloud services they use and the methodologies for protecting their companies against security threats.
39 percent of respondents reported that their organization uses more than 10 different cloud services, and an additional 21 percent were unable to respond because they simply did not know how many are in use. In 40 per cent of cases, organizations are likely to deploy a cloud platform without any consultation with the IT department and with no risk assessment or due diligence.
Reaping the benefits
There is no question that the cloud brings enormous benefits and savings to organizations, which is doubtless why 48 of the Fortune Global 50 have either adopted or announced plans to adopt cloud-based systems.
Top of the list comes data backup. Every company needs to backup its data, and this has traditionally been complex, time-consuming and labor intensive. The cloud provides a swift and easy solution for constant data backup and meets quality standards and regulatory requirements for an offsite system.
Yet until the security concerns are addressed, stakeholders will still be in doubt as to whether the cloud is the panacea that it seems to be.
Making it work
The cloud is here to stay, and the survey proves that it is time to demystify matters of security once and for all. Organizations need to take the bull by the horns and focus on the areas of risk identification, threat detection and incident response to provide a holistic approach to monitor the entire digital environment, both on-premises and in the cloud.
By: Jenny Holt
