The advent of the cloud technologies introduced “freedom of movement” to data. However, as with people, freedom of movement requires that countries agree to regulations which ensure stored data is subject to the same standards people and businesses enjoy in their own country – hence the arrival of data regulations like the GDPR. Add to the mix the growing threat of cyber crime, cloud providers, with a global footprint, naturally, have a responsibility to provide reassurance to their clients that they will comply. However, a new study from Advanced, suggests that cloud providers are failing to offer this much-needed sense of trust.

According to the report from the British software and services company, concerns about cyber security and data protection are eroding confidence levels in the cloud. Half of the UK organisations surveyed are worried about security, while 45% worry about data protection and the geographical location of data. Almost a third (28%) are put off from using the cloud because of recent high-profile attacks.

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There are still many businesses out there not utilising the cloud – according to Advanced; it’s 24% – suggesting there is a job for technology providers to do in reassuring companies on the benefits of the cloud and that, if appropriately managed, it is secure and helps with compliance.

An overwhelming 88% of respondents said that cloud providers need to do more to build confidence levels in cloud adoption. When it comes to key attributes from cloud providers, security ranked higher than the usual benefits touted by cloud providers – 71% of firms look for security, followed by compliance (61%), data held in the UK (52%), flexible pricing (51%), migration support (48%) and scalability (33%).

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“The findings suggest that many businesses are unclear as to how secure the cloud can actually be,” commented Jon Wrennall, CTO at Advanced. “Cloud providers are not being transparent enough on how they protect their customers’ data. With incidents around cyber security and compliance hitting the headlines, again and again, it’s right for businesses to be concerned. But it’s a tell-tale sign that cloud service providers should be stepping up and squashing the biggest misconceptions around the cloud.”

“Cyber security should no longer be considered a barrier to cloud adoption – quite the opposite actually. The speed at which cloud services have matured and the complexity of the overall cyber threat landscape means that, managed in the right way, the cloud is arguably safer than any other service. Providers need to get better at communicating their security responsibilities as well as supporting organisations in being better protected in the cloud. In fact, they should be positioning security and compliance as major selling factors.”

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