Security for cloud computing seen as key investment

That’s chief among findings of a study among 470 companies by the organisers of the Infosecurity Europe exhibition and conference. And Tamar Beck, the event’s group director, adds that interviews with 20 chief information security officers also revealed concerns over availability and security with cloud-based services. “There are many drivers that make externalisation almost inevitable, as new businesses models are underpinned by collaborative working and its ability to enable organisations to seize opportunities as soon as they arise,” says Beck. “Cloud computing and SaaS appear to have a pivotal role to play in this evolving environment, where CIOs are challenged to add value to the business and CISOs required to ensure that new services are reliable and secure.” Work done by the Jericho Forum in this area is to be covered in the keynote programme at Infosecurity Europe 2009, while working in the cloud, SaaS and externalisation are also on the agenda in a number of the business and technical seminars: Dr Guy Bunker, chief scientist with Symantec, will give a seminar on security in the cloud, and Peter Wood, chief of operations, First Base Technologies (and a member of the ISACA conference committee on Cloud Computing) will also look at real-world threats posed by cloud computing.