24 Feb 2010

Cloud, virtualisation 'pose security issues for firms'

Cloud and virtualisation technology pose a serious risk to the data security of firms, it has been claimed.

Trevor Dearing, head of enterprise marketing for Juniper Networks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said there is a danger that the large levels of investment in these areas in recent years could lead to businesses having excellent IT infrastructure, but lacking sufficient data security systems to protect their confidential files.

He commented: "We have to think about really covering and looking out for three things. And that is security in the data centre, security between the data centre and access to the resources of the clients."

According to a recent report by Symantec, 75 per cent of organisations experienced cyber attacks in the past 12 months.

Furthermore, it noted that every surveyed enterprise experienced cyber losses in 2009, while 92 per cent of the time, these losses translate to monetary costs.

In addition, 42 per cent of respondents ranked cyber risk as their top concern; more than natural disasters, terrorism and traditional crime combined.