Most CIOs fear external threat of cloud computing


18 Feb 2009

Some three quarters of organisations across Europe intend to reallocate or increase budgets to secure cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) within the next 12 months.

The Info Security Europe survey of up to 500 CIOs, including 20 chief security officers, revealed they are concerned about availability and security aspects of software services in the cloud.

They were especially concerned about the lack of standards for working in the cloud, SaaS and secure internet access. All of them said they would welcome the development of guidelines in this area.

“This is the clearest indication that SaaS is well and truly here to stay,” said Raj Samani of the ISSA.

“With any new technology, however, a risk assessment must be undertaken before allowing your data to be stored offsite (with a vendor). After all, you can transfer the burden of managing systems, but not the liability if something goes wrong.”

According to Tamar Beck, group event director, Infosecurity Europe: “There are many drivers that make externalisation almost inevitable as competitive new businesses models are underpinned by collaborative working and its ability to enable organisations to seize opportunities as soon as they arise.

“Cloud computing and SaaS appear to have a pivotal role to play in this new, evolving environment where CIOs are challenged to add value to the business and CISOs are required to ensure that new services are reliable and secure,” Beck said.

By John Kennedy