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Organizations still leaving security gaps unfilled IT professionals believe their organizations aren't doing enough to protect critical data and systems, according to a survey commissioned by Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS). Concerning the health of an organization's IT infrastructure, three-out-of-four (76 percent) IT professionals believe their organizations could do more to improve cloud security. More than half (54 percent) of respondents say security is the most critical factor for companies to consider when making the decision to move to the cloud. Yet, it's also the most overlooked. "Too often, IT managers fail to ask cloud providers the targeted security questions that will help them create a strong cloud transformation plan and a sustainable security plan after go-live," maintains Matt Goche, director, Security Consulting at Sungard AS. "Our data reveals a disconnect. People know cloud security is important but aren't taking the necessary precautions to safeguard their organization's resiliency." The surveyed IT professionals recognize this disconnect and agree there needs to be an increased emphasis placed on security in the cloud. The majority of respondents identified security as the one factor given insufficient attention when making the decision to move to the cloud, followed by vendor support and cloud-based disaster recovery. Employees unknowingly sabotaging security Surveyed IT professionals blame their colleagues for one of the biggest threats to their organization's overall security. Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of survey respondents ranked leaving laptops and mobile phones in vulnerable places as their organization's most common security threat, followed by employee password sharing (51 percent). Concerning password hygiene, respondents say the most important components to a password's health relate to avoiding adjacent keyboard combinations – such as ‘qwerty’ – and to changing passwords often and using a password just once. The importance of stringent security plans in all areas of an organization – from employee personal devices to cloud platforms – is vital in today's ‘always-on’ world where security threats change daily. In this environment, internal penetration testing, where an ethical hacker attempts to gain access to a company's systems, can be one way of ensuring IT security and resiliency. Methodology The survey, conducted by SurveyMonkey Audience for Sungard AS, reached 276 IT professionals and was completed in December 2014. •Date: 4th March 2015 • US/World •Type: Article • Topic:: Information security
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