InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology

Our 2012 Cloud Security and Risk Survey finds a lot of concern about cloud security: 48% of respondents who won’t use the cloud cite security reasons for lack of adoption. Even those who use or are considering the cloud put security at the top of their list of concerns, ahead of performance and vendor lock-in. And yet, 40% of respondents using, planning to use or considering using public cloud services don’t have a security assessment process in place. That needs to change. Here’s how.

Identify the right threats for effective risk management.

Whether it's cloud computing, mobile devices, or insecure software, some threats are more prevalent than others. Our latest survey delves into where security pros are putting their resources.

When it comes to security and risk management, it’s tempting to try to address everything. A more effective approach: Focus on the most likely threats. Our ­survey results show security and IT pros are concentrating on risks over which they have some control, such as implementing better access ­control, vetting cloud providers, safeguarding mobile devices, educating users and building more secure software. See what else should be on your list.

But big data doesn’t have to mean big risk.

Don't fret about malware detection. Focus on user interactions, performance, and management.

Retailers' options for accepting payments via smartphones are all over the map. Smart companies will use them to build loyalty as well as get paid.

If it seems security is an afterthought at best in the big data ecosystem, you’re right. And that’s unfortunate, because attackers go where the data is. Our security surveys consistently show that even conventional structured databases aren’t protected as well as they should be. And now we’re piling up unstructured data. In this report we’ll discuss best practices and must-do hardening tips to reduce the chances that your NoSQL database will be breached.

Retailers’ options for accepting in-store payments via smartphones are all over the map, including devices that use near field communication technology, custom-built mobile apps and fledgling payment processors. One critical factor—consumer adoption—is still an unknown. We’ll explain what companies need to know about emerging options and how they should prepare for a multifaceted payment environment.

As broken protocols, mobility, and cloud add to the data protection burden, encryption's more important than ever.