Most IT professionals cite Cloud security as a high priority, but a whopping 82 percent also trust it enough to use it.

How secure is data in the Cloud? and who is responsible for securing data in the Cloud?

A new survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute on behalf of UK-based data protection solutions provider Thales e-Security were published this week. The “Encryption in the Cloud” study, which surveyed more 4,000 business and IT managers from around the world, found that 82 percent of organizations already transfer or plan to transfer sensitive or confidential data to the Cloud.

However, 39 percent of respondents said they believed that Cloud adoption has decreased their companies’ security posture. In addition, 64 percent of those surveyed who transfer data to the Cloud believed that the Cloud provider was responsible for protecting that data.

“This clearly demonstrates that for many organizations the economic benefits of using the Cloud outweigh the security concerns. However, it is particularly interesting to note that it is those organisations that have a strong overall security posture that appear to be more likely to transfer this class of information to the Cloud environment – possibly because they most understand how and where to use tools such as encryption to protect their data and retain control,” said Ponemon Institute Chairman and Founder Larry Ponemon. “What is perhaps most surprising is that nearly two thirds of those that move sensitive data to the Cloud regard their service providers as being primarily responsible for protecting that data, even though a similar number have little or no knowledge about what measures their providers have put in place to protect data.”

At OzHosting.com, we maintain strict Privacy and Security guidelines around our customer data and payment processing methods. We take the security of your files and of our software very seriously. We use the best tools, Australian data centres and best-of-breed software to make sure that your data remains secure. Your files are backed-up & stored securely.

We recommend as the survey highlights, that if you place highly secure, confidential information into the Cloud, you should use measures to encrypt your data in line with your own organisation Security policies.

Another important consideration is to research not only data Security, but also Privacy policies within your jurisdiction, as every country is different.