New study reveals changing security landscape

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

The advent of cloud computing has evolved in recent years but the rapid adoption of the technology may be complicating the security landscape, according to the recent 2012 Global State of Information Security Survey by PwC.

Of the more than 9,600 executives surveyed from 138 countries, 72 percent indicated they have confidence in their organizations' information security measures. Also, 43 percent of companies believe they are "front-runners" in the industry, though only 13 percent can be correctly classified in this manner.

According to the study, more than 40 percent of organizations uses cloud computing, while 69 percent indicated they utilize Software-as-a-Service, 47 percent for Infrastructure-as-a-Service and 33 percent for Platform-as-a-Service. Of those surveyed, 54 percent said the cloud has improved their security, while 23 percent said it has increased their vulnerability, with the greatest being the inability to enforce provider security policies.

Overall, cyber security threats have evolved in the past decade since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Joseph Steinberg, CEO of Green Armor Solution, told PC Magazine that smartphones and tablets are vulnerable to attacks because they did not exist ten years ago, placing organizations in a precarious position.