Why Your IT Clients May Want To Encrypt All Data

By Ally Kutz, contributing writer

A report from Vormetric and IANS states 84 percent of companies have considered encrypting all sensitive data.

The survey, which polled more than 100 information security influencers and decision makers, also cites top reasons for considering encryption, including preventing data breaches (66 percent), fulfilling compliance or audit mandates (54 percent), and protecting financial and other assets (53 percent).

The report states that the perception is that encrypting everything could result in simplified strategies for security technology as well as improvement of security posture now and in the future.

Given current high levels of threats, many security leaders are becoming more concerned when protecting sensitive data. Not only must these leaders protect data, they are also faced with the urging of moving things into the cloud as well as via outsourced service models. With the risks involved with these, many are turning to encryption to address these problems.

Areas in which securing data is a top priority include databases (62 percent), laptops (52 percent), email (48 percent), private clouds (46 percent), and Big Data environments (37 percent).

According to IANS, “Many organizations we work with are seeing shifts in drivers for encryption overall, as well — encryption is rapidly going from a ‘security checkbox’ to a technology that can address specific and advanced security threats, as well as help to reduce compliance scope for many businesses, which turns encryption into an immediate business advantage.”

The biggest challenge when applying encryption is legacy technology and the support — or lack thereof — for encryption, as reported by 54 percent of those surveyed. The second big issue is that of the cost of encryption technology (52 percent), while the third is worry about performance impacts (44 percent).

Tina Stewart, vice president of global marketing at Vormetric, said, “Modern encryption solutions enable organizations not only to safeguard traditional applications, but also to take advantage of cloud, SaaS services, IoT, and big data without incurring new risks to data. As a result, encryption is now a critical driver of lower operational costs as well as the rapid development of new services and offering for competitive advantage and market expansion.”

For the complete survey, click here.