Cloud boosts SME security

security benefits by adopting cloud services, CIO Asia reports.

Speaking in Kuala Lumpur on 22 May, Microsoft Trustworthy Computing GM Adrienne Hall said the new study in five geographies showed that SMEs are realising IT security, efficiency and cost-saving benefits from using cloud services.

ZDNet writes that, according to the study, which was released on Thursday, 24% of companies that have transitioned to cloud computing indicated that they were able to reduce their budgets with regard to managing security. Comparatively, only 7% of cloud users indicated otherwise.

Additionally, 57% of those using cloud say they spend less time managing security; 54% saw an improvement in their security measures; and 48% said they spent less time worrying about their vulnerability to cyber attacks, the study showed.

However, nearly 41% of the respondents made the mistake of thinking that the cloud service provider was entirely responsible for their information security. SMEs need to realise that they are still responsible for some elements of IT security, such as securing the endpoint, Microsoft told PCMag.

"When it comes to security, the cloud offers SMEs a level of expertise, specialist resources and investment that they cannot hope to match. This translates into cost- and time-savings and better protection against cyber threats, which gives them the freedom to innovate and grow their business," Ryan Brock, VP of worldwide SME cloud and channels at AMI Partners, told Microsoft's Hall.