76% of IT decision-makers predict cloud applications will be breached: Survey

SAN JOSE, Calif.—More than three-quarters of information technology decision-makers predict their cloud applications are likely to be breached, according to a survey of 1,300 officials in 13 countries by Cisco Systems Inc.

According to the survey released Tuesday, 76% of IT decision-makers predict their cloud applications are likely to be breached, and 24% “believe the odds are better for them to be struck by lightning than have their cloud applications breached by an unwanted third party,” according to the survey report.

During the cloud migration process, data protection security was cited by 72% as the top network challenge or roadblock responsible for preventing a successful implementation of cloud services. This was followed by availability/reliability of cloud applications, cited by 67%; device-based security, cited by 66%; visibility and control of applications across the Wide Area Network, cited by 60%; and overall application performance, cited by 60%, according to San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco.

Among other survey results, 39% said they would not trust their own personal information, such as medical records and Social Security numbers, with the cloud provider they are now using.

The survey also found that while only 5% of IT decision-makers have been able to migrate at least half of their total applications to the cloud, that is expected to increase to 20% by the end of this year.

Copies of the 2012 Cisco Global Cloud Networking Survey are available here.

At a recent risk manager panel, participants said products, such as cyber policies designed to address cloud computing risks, are too underdeveloped in terms of the industry's comprehension of the underlying exposures to justify purchasing.