Government snooping has put a third of organisations off using the cloud.
According to research by Lieberman Software of 280 IT professionals attending last month’s RSA Conference, fear of government snooping discourages 33 per cent of IT professionals from the cloud, while 80 per cent prefer to keep more sensitive data stored within their company’s own network.
Philip Lieberman, President and CEO of Lieberman Software, said: “IT managers are aware there is very limited data privacy in cloud environments and they therefore prefer to keep their most sensitive assets on premises. Another issue is legislation in the cloud and the fact that IT executives do not want governments probing into their corporate data. If a Government or official body wants to see what data a company is holding, the cloud host involved is legally obliged to provide them access.”
The number has decreased from Lieberman’s last survey in November 2012, when 48 per cent of respondents were discouraged from using the cloud because of fear of Government snooping – eight months ahead of the revelations about NSA surveillance.
Calum MacLeod, VP of EMEA for Lieberman Software, said: “The fact that the Government is snooping within our IT environments and on our phone calls isn’t a big revelation, and when the NSA scandal broke it should not have come as a big surprise to those who work in the security industry. Government surveillance has been around for a very long time and unless you’re doing something against the law it shouldn’t be a concern.
“Security professionals realise that the major cloud service providers offer very comprehensive security and ultimately their willingness to invest in technology to protect their clients probably offers a more secure environment than off shoring companies, particularly in India who seem to think that everything can be solved with cheap labour.”
