The cloud has hit the mainstream. Businesses in the United States currently spend more than $13 billion on cloud computing and managed hosting services, and Gartner projects that by 2015, end-user spending on cloud services could be more than $180 billion worldwide. It is estimated that 50 percent of organizations will require employees to use their own devices by 2017, which will depend on shared cloud storage. All of this requires encryption.
Organizational deployment of encryption has increased significantly in recent years. Its use spans everything from encrypting data in databases and file systems, in storage networks, on back-up tapes, and while being transferred over a public and internal networks. Although this might seem that we are moving in the right direction when it comes to enterprise data protection, there’s a real risk of creating fragmentation and inconsistency – referred to as encryption sprawl – as different organizations deploy diverse technologies in different places to secure different types of data. Adding fuel to the fire, the cloud poses its own unique threats and challenges. With an undeniable value proposition, it seems clear that the cloud is inevitable and that protecting data within it will be a top priority.