Study: Data Security Is The Biggest Cloud Computing Concern

• Financial sector employees most distrustful of cloud computing (83% of respondents)

• Data security seen as biggest cloud computing risk across sectors

• Tech sector employees’ technical understanding of cloud computing means only 31% have reservations about implementing the technology

Commercial property experts Savoy Stewart have surveyed 6,000 professionals in 6 countries and across 5 industries to gauge their opinions on cloud computing and whether or not they would trust the cloud with their sensitive business data.

All 5 sectors chosen would stand to benefit from the introduction of cloud computing but would also have to deal with the potential security drawbacks of this technology. Data leaks are a big issue, especially within sectors which store sensitive data about their customers

Data leaks or unauthorised access to customers’ stored data is the biggest overall worry among those working in the financial, insurance, and healthcare sectors.

The data points to a lower level of trust among those who are not in the tech sector, especially those in finance, insurance, and healthcare. This can be, in part, attributed to the lower comprehension rates among professionals in other industries. However, the fact that data can potentially be leaked or accessed by third parties is still seen as a huge risk, even with cloud encryption protocols becoming more and more advanced.

The U.S. financial sector still sees storing data in the cloud as risky business, with 35% of tech employees saying they distrust cloud computing. Only Italians are more pessimistic whern it comes to cloud computing implementation (43% distrust rate).

Those who work in hospitality are most in favour of cloud computing; only 5% of hospitality employees across the 6 countries which took part in the survey said they distrust cloud computing. This is good news for an industry which could stand to cut energy, hardware, and operational costs through the cloud. Receiving direct bookings from clients throught cloud technology would mean cutting booking agency commission, and increasing profit margins for hotel owners.

Those working in the UK’s tech and hospitality sectors are most concerned about the availability of cloud computing services. No service can guarantee 100% uptime; this is a problem for businesses that could stand to lose clients during maintenance periods.