Trend Micro Annual Survey Finds Cloud Data Security Lapses Up from 2011

Canada: high Cloud adoption rates, 3^rd highest increase in data security lapse or issue

Global cloud survey finds greater cloud adoption means more security issues for companies.

OTTAWA, Aug. 28, 2012 /CNW/ - The latest global survey of 1400 IT decision makers from Canada, the U.S., UK, Germany, India, Japan and Brazil, found that while Canada had one of the highest cloud adoption rates, it also had one of the largest increases in data security lapse or issue -- behind India and Japan.

From 2011 to 2012, the overall global cloud adoption increased from 55 percent to 59 percent.  This increase may account for the security issues that companies reported in the survey, especially in countries such as India and Canada where cloud adoption rates increased the most.  India's adoption rate grew from 38 percent in 2011 to 49 percent in 2012; Canada's adoption rate grew from 42 percent in 2011 to 51 percent in 2012.

Globally, the cloud continues to pose challenges on how to deliver agile, yet secure, IT services to enterprises. The percentage of companies that reported a data security lapse or issue with their cloud service increased from 43 percent in 2011 to 46 percent in 2012, according to the survey conducted by Trend Micro (TYO: 4704;TSE: 4704), the global leader in cloud security. The executive summary of the survey can be found here.

India had the highest incidence (67 percent) of data security lapse or issue, followed by Brazil (55 percent). India also had the highest - 12 percent -- increase of security lapse or issue in 2011, followed by Japan (a 7 percent increase) and Canada (a 6 percent increase).

"In the race to put data in the cloud to save on overall costs, companies need to be aware of the hidden cost in terms of data security," said Jim Short, Trend Micro Canada General Manager. "Cloud providers are not doing enough to secure current cloud services, and enterprises need to broaden their security policies to protect applications and data stored in the cloud as strongly as they protect these within the company's internal infrastructure."

Data Security Remains Key Issue

• More then half (53 percent) of the decision makers surveyed stated that data security is a key reason for holding back their adoption of cloud solutions. This finding is in line with the 40 percent of respondents who stated that their IT security requirements are not being met by current cloud services.
• 53 percent surveyed expressed more willingness to consider using the cloud if cloud providers took a more hands-on approach to securing data or if they knew more about how to secure their data in the cloud.

Cloud Adoption Continues to Grow

• Despite trepidation in utilizing cloud services, the number of enterprises that have deployed public and private cloud solutions have increased to 20 percent, up from the 13 percent that had solutions deployed in 2011.

Cloud Confusion Still a Factor

• There is still confusion about what cloud computing services exactly are. When presented with a list of cloud services, 94 percent of the respondents said they are currently using at least one of them. However, 9 percent of these respondents indicated, that their company has no plans to deploy cloud computing services. This is consistent with 2011 when 7 percent had the same response.
• For those who have public cloud in production, the vast majority indicated that they encrypt their data stored in the cloud (89 percent). This is a 4 percent increase from 2011. 87 percent said they keep a 1:1 copy of all data that is synched to the cloud.

Survey methodology

1,400 IT professionals from the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Canada, India, Japan and Brazil (200 respondents from each of the seven countries) were invited to participate in a survey on cloud computing. These professionals, from enterprises with over 500 employees, make purchase decisions for cloud computing services, server virtualization or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704;TSE: 4704), the global cloud security leader, creates a world safe for exchanging digital information with its Internet content security and threat management solutions for businesses and consumers.  A pioneer in server security with over 20 years' experience, we deliver top-ranked client, server and cloud-based security that fits our customers' and partners' needs, stops new threats faster, and protects data in physical, virtualized and cloud environments. Powered by the industry-leading Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ cloud computing security infrastructure, our products and services stop threats where they emerge - from the Internet. They are supported by 1,000+ threat intelligence experts around the globe.

SOURCE: Trend Micro Canada

Media Contact: Claire M. Tallarico 416-616-9940