24 Mar 2010

Data responsibility 'key to cloud computing uptake'

Data responsibility is a stumbling block for the uptake of cloud computing in the UK, it has been claimed.

Speaking at the Westminster eForum Keynote Seminar: Cloud Computing, Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro, said the fact companies lose control of data, but not the responsibility for it, when transferring files to third-party cloud providers and this could put many off from embracing the technology.

He commented: "The problem, as well as the technology, is also about language. The term cloud has different meanings to different consumers of cloud services ... Unfortunately, the same is true of security."

According to research by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, a quarter of enterprises that already use cloud computing believe that the risks outweigh the benefits, yet still carry on regardless.

Indeed, of the 1,500 professionals sampled across more than 50 European, Middle Eastern and African countries, 33 per cent are already using cloud computing.