A recent study has suggested that the bulk of Americans - more than 75% in fact - do not trust security in the cloud. These figures were revealed by Swedish email security company,
Halon Security in a survey that was conducted online and included 2,084 adults aged 18 or above in the United States.
Established in 2002, Halon offers a range of email security options utilized by web hosts, cloud service providers, government organizations, and companies of varying size. Halon's customers use the company's products in a range of formats - including hardware, software, hosted or virtual solutions. Its products feature an open API that facilitates easy integration. As part of its services, the company regularly conducts security surveys, and its 2013 Security Survey revealed the issues many Americans have with the cloud.
There are a range of issues and concerns Americans have with the cloud. 35% of those surveyed are worried about losing files, while 34% are worried that files will not be stored securely. 30% of those surveyed were worried about loss of control of data, while 28% were concerned about unauthorized people gaining access to "sensitive or embarrassing" files. In addition, 21% were concerned about computer viruses.
The survey also revealed some more fundamental issues as far as the cloud is concerned. 25% of those surveyed suggest they don't understand what the cloud is. More alarmingly, 13% wouldn't trust a company that holds files in the cloud. Those surveyed suggest a number of approaches to address this lack of trust. 54% suggested they would need some sort of proof the cloud is secure, while 44% would require a security guarantee from a "trusted company". 41% felt they might trust the cloud more if they understood it better, while 34% suggested they would need to know where their files were stored.
The survey also revealed concerns with email security. Only 43% of the Americans surveyed suggested they were "confident" or "very confident" that an email has been sent by who it says it was sent by. A staggering 94% of those surveyed suggested "triggers" within emails make them doubt whether an email is sent by who it is purportedly sent by. These include offers for devices, free prescription drugs, emails that contain numerous hyperlinks, and subject lines that are written in capitals.
“Ensuring that users fully trust the cloud and what is being sent via email starts at the hosting level, and ensuring malicious threats never reach the end user is the only solution," suggested Halon's Vice President, Jonas Falck. "That’s the problem Halon is here to solve."
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