IT Pros: Security, Visibility Concerns Still Hinder Cloud Adoption

While some studies show that businesses are getting more comfortable with security in the cloud, a new survey of IT pros shows there’s a lot of work to do before many fears are quashed.

Results from Netwrix’s 2015 Cloud Security Survey show that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of companies are concerned with security and two in five (40 percent) are concerned with loss of control over data when migrating applications to the cloud. Furthermore, those polled say lack of visibility into sensitive data stored off site increases security risks and makes them more hesitant to dive more deeply into the cloud.

“We wanted to find out the exact reasons that prevent companies from cloud adoption and taking advantage of all the benefits it offers,” said Alex Vovk, CEO and co-founder of Netwrix. “The survey revealed the interesting fact that even though the cloud is not a new technology, the cloud market has a good potential to grow further. Advanced security solutions and true visibility into what is going on across the cloud infrastructure will help companies minimize security risks, take back control over business-critical assets and accelerate cloud adoption.”

The hybrid cloud is gaining traction. Nearly half (44 percent) of those surveyed said that’s their model of choice as they make the transition. Of those deploying private clouds, more than one-third (37 percent) said they’re investing in more security.

More specifically, cloud security fears among respondents surround the potential for unauthorized access (69 percent) and hijacking (43 percent). As a result, many companies migrating to the cloud plan to enforce internal security policies: Approximately half (56 percent) plan to improve identity and authentication management; will utilize encryption (51 percent); and establish auditing of changes and user activity (45 percent).

Most all of the survey-takers are open to cloud in some form — just 13 percent said they won’t be adopting cloud technology in the near future. Of those, 30 percent said their business will reconsider when cloud security improves.

About one-third (30 percent) of organizations already take advantage of improved cloud security, while two in five (40 percent) are ready to invest in additional security guarantees, if offered.

Overall, nearly three in four (71 percent) enterprises perceive continuous auditing of cloud infrastructure as a very important part of security guarantees to ensure data integrity in the cloud.

Netwrix, which provides IT auditing software, surveyed more than 600 IT pros from around the world. They represent technology, manufacturing, government, health care, finance, education and other industries.

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