Are cloud security concerns overblown?

• Position: CLOUD COMPUTING

While security concerns over cloud adoption are the greatest barrier to adoption among businesses, a recent survey found that few have actually suffered a cloud-related security incident.

The Cloud Security Spotlight Report by Crowd Research Partners surveyed 2,200 consultants, specialists, executives, IT, and other professionals across a variety of industries and found that more than half (53%) of respondents expressed concern over the security of their data in the cloud, an increase from 45% in 2015, Legaltech News reported.

Interestingly, however, when asked if they had suffered a cloud-related security incident, only 9% said yes, while 36% could not disclose or did not know of any incident, and 55% said they had not had any cloud-related security issues, the survey found.

If the survey findings are any indication, respondents may be confused about how secure the cloud really is. For example, 22% of respondents said there was a lower risk of breaches from the cloud compared to data hosted on premises servers, while 21% said the opposite, and 27% said they believed security for cloud and on-premises storage was about the same.

Legal and regulatory compliance concerns were also cited as a barrier to cloud adoption by 42% of respondents in 2016, up from 29% in 2015. The survey noted, however, that "the rise in specific...