A new survey from leading Irish IT managed services provider Auxilion reveals that data loss/theft and ransomware/malware attacks were the cybersecurity concerns most cited by IT leaders when it comes to the cloud – at 30% respectively.
The research, carried out by Censuswide and involving IT decision-makers across large enterprises in the Republic of Ireland, found that 40% of respondents see IT security risks as a main concern associated with adopting and managing cloud computing.
A similar proportion (42%) said that the changing cybersecurity landscape was one of the biggest obstacles to the successful delivery of their IT strategy. Moreover, one in four (26%) IT leaders in Ireland do not think current laws and regulations are sufficient to protect privacy, access, and confidentiality in a cloud-based environment.
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Adding to this, almost a quarter (24%) of IT decision-makers surveyed who are currently using the cloud do not think their own organisation has sufficient capabilities to manage cloud computing and more than a third of those respondents admitted to having little or no visibility of their workloads in the cloud (36%).
Despite this, some 83% consider cloud to be a more secure approach for their organisation. It appears that IT leaders are being proactive in this area with 83% also having a cloud security strategy in place and 73% currently using a technology partner to manage their cloud strategy and services.
The study also found that the shift to cloud is set to continue with nearly all respondents (96%) expecting to migrate more workloads, applications, and processes to the cloud over the next 12 months.
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On October 9th, Auxilion, HPE and Zerto will be holding an event hosted by broadcaster Ivan Yates to discuss the increased need for robust data protection, cloud security, and business continuity capabilities.
Donal Sullivan, CTO, Auxilion, said: “While the cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving, organisations are facing an even bigger uphill battle at the moment with the rise of threats enabled by Artificial Intelligence and the introduction of the European-wide NIS2 regulation in October.
“This means businesses not only need to be more proactive when it comes to securing their data and responding to incidents, they also need to ensure that they are meeting their compliance and regulatory obligations. This requires the right technologies and partners that can support security, mobility and scalability.
“The truth is that in this day and age, resilience and recovery are as important as detection and prevention when it comes to cybersecurity. Businesses which fail to recognise this and adapt their strategy could be at risk operationally, reputationally and financially.”
Chris Rogers, Senior Technology Evangelist, Zerto, said: “Rapid recovery from a cyber incident is more than a reactive measure - it's a critical component of a resilient and forward-thinking business strategy. The ability to swiftly bounce back from disruptions not only minimises downtime but also safeguards reputation, customer trust, and bottom line.
“The real competitive edge lies in turning these challenges into opportunities for growth and innovation, and partnering with experts to unlock advanced cyber resilience capabilities can significantly accelerate an organization’s journey to cyber maturity.”
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