New research: Enterprises more confident than ever in cloud security

Cloud-based solutions were a technology life raft for organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic as employees took to the virtual office and companies scrambled to adjust to a distributed, remote reality. However, these rapid and substantial changes in the role of cloud technologies on the business came with an increased focus on security. 

The accelerated move to the cloud also meant companies needed to rapidly evolve existing security practices to protect everything that matters at the core of business—from their people and their operational and transactional data to customers and their most sensitive personal information. Suddenly, enterprises were keenly aware of where business practices, employee training, and security policies were falling short. 

A recent Google-commissioned study by IDG explored the details behind the heightened focus on security solutions since the start of the pandemic while highlighting the role cloud-based security solutions are playing in helping keep customers safe. The survey of 2,000 global IT leaders serves to illustrate that in this new and unfamiliar world, enterprises are more ready than ever to embrace cloud security.

Security is an even higher priority post-pandemic

In the wake of the pandemic, many organizations are facing a broader attack surface than ever before as employees moved to temporarily working from remote home offices (and in some cases, encouraged to stay there for the foreseeable future). With fewer inherent security protections on personal internet connections and more work meetings happening via video conferencing, attackers have launched a cyber pandemic of their own designed to take advantage of and exploit new weaknesses. 

However, even as businesses amp up security initiatives and preventative measures, the growing wave of threats continue to keep security top of mind for IT leaders. Security risks and concerns remain one of the top pain points impeding innovation according to the IDG study respondents—only surpassed by insufficient IT and developer skills. 

Enterprises looking to cloud providers for help with security

As a result, addressing security risks is a leading area where IT leaders turn to cloud providers for support. For these organizations, the ability to control access to data while using cloud services was the most required infrastructure security and compliance features from a cloud provider.

Cloud security is more trusted than ever 

A deeper look into the results also revealed a shift in perspective about whether cloud security is really up to the task of protecting enterprises against modern attacks. Despite skepticism in the past, the majority of IT leaders are now comfortable with using cloud-based security solutions. 

Confidence in the security of cloud infrastructure is extremely high with 85% of respondents stating they feel secure (or more secure) than on-premises infrastructure—compared to just 15% who believe on-premises is still safer.

This is a clear indication that there are fewer reservations around the efficacy of cloud-based security solutions, signaling an increase in trust as organizations invest in cloud-based infrastructure and solutions. 

We are committed to safe, secure solutions 

Google Cloud protects your data, applications, and infrastructure, as well as your customers, from fraudulent activity, spam, and other types of online abuse. We protect you against a growing list of cybersecurity threats using the same infrastructure foundation and security services that we use for our own operations, so you never have to compromise between ease of use and advanced security. 

To learn more about the IDG findings and how IT leaders are addressing security concerns post-COVID, download the full report.

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