Despite its many perceived benefits, cloud computing ranks as the top risk concern for executives in risk, audit, finance and compliance, according to a recent survey by Gartner Inc.
Cloud computing presents a number of opportunities for enterprises, but it also introduces new risks including cyber security disclosure and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance, which make cloud offerings susceptible to unexpected security threats.
The firm surveyed 110 senior executives in risk, audit, finance and compliance at large global organizations, and social engineering and GDPR compliance were cited as most likely to cause the greatest enterprise damage if not adequately addressed by risk management leaders.
However, only 18 percent of the executives surveyed currently considered social engineering to be a significant enterprise risk. Executives should expect cyber security threats to affect organizations in unpredictable ways. Through 2022, at least 95 percent of cloud security failures will be the fault of the organization, according to Gartner.
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As more sophisticated tactics such as social engineering are engineered to compromise sensitive data, organizations should expand their cyber security teams to address evolving digital risks, the firm said.
Gartner forecasts cloud computing to be a $300 billion business by 2021. But the results from Gartner’s risks report show that companies continue to struggle with security. Despite record spending on information security in the last two years, organizations have lost an estimated $400 billion to cyber theft and fraud worldwide.
