The biggest perceived barriers for both consumer and SME take-up of cloud computing are lack of privacy, data security, provider lock-in, lack of standardisation, and jurisdictional issues relating to applicable law and law enforcement access to data.

Data security and privacy

Potential general data security risks arising from cloud computing relate to: an increase in threats to data confidentiality due to the concentration of data on common cloud infrastructure; the loss of IT control and governance by organisations using cloud services; and an increased risk of data interception in authentication and transmission procedures.

Multiple approaches exist to tackle these vulnerabilities, such as differentiation of the level of security needed by sensitivity of data or use of a ‘private cloud’ managed by the organisation itself or a provider. Additional data security assurance could also be provided through a form of audit and certification systems of cloud services providers.