ISACA, a non-profit global association of more than 100,000 IT audit, security, risk and governance professionals, today released guidance on managing three top trends expected to pose major challenges to Indian businesses in 2013: private vs. public clouds, cybersecurity threats and data privacy.

Debate over Private vs. Public Cloud

Over the next 12 months, information security concerns will prompt a growing interest in private or hybrid (public/private) cloud solutions. The expected rise of “personal clouds” will add to the challenge of protecting data across multi-platforms. Cost, speed, manageability and security are the factors most debated in cloud computing.

ISACA’s 2012 IT Risk/Reward Barometer shows that IT professionals remain wary of public cloud; 64 percent believe that the risk of using public cloud outweighs the benefit.

At the same time, it was highlighted that 66% of respondents in India believe that private cloud has its own benefits which overcome the possible risk factors. This finding showed that respondents believe the benefits of private cloud far outweigh the risk, when compared with other cloud platforms, such as hybrid (17%) and public (15%) cloud platform.

The survey also highlighted that 31% of respondents have deployed private cloud for mission-critical services, compared to public cloud (6%) and hybrid cloud (7%). At the same time, for low-risk non-mission critical services, enterprises are bullish on deploying public cloud (26%) compared to private cloud (22 %) and hybrid cloud (23%).

Increasingly Sophisticated Cybersecurity Threats in India

Viruses that send unsolicited emails and attack web sites, as well as search engine poisoning—where unwitting users are misdirected toward questionable or fraudulent sites—are among the increasingly sophisticated tactics used to capture and exploit consumer data and pose threats to international supply chains.

Due to phishing scams and social engineering attacks, clicking on an email link from a work-supplied computer or smartphone presents a high risk to the enterprise, say 56% of IT professionals in India.

Mr. Avinash Kadam, ISACA India Task Force Member, says, “With the growing number of cyberthreats, it is critical for enterprises to safeguard their information assets. Addressing cyber issues should be considered beyond defining internet policies. It is equally important for enterprises to educate their employees on information risks, as it is not just an IT issue, but also a business issue.”

To address the growing cybersecurity concerns in India and throughout the world, a team of ISACA members is dedicated to researching cybersecurity issues and developing guidance to help enterprises protect their information assets. ISACA recommends that management address cybercrime across all areas, including:

• Awareness
• Prevention
• Detection
• Incident and crisis management
• Cooperation with investigating organizations

Growing Privacy Concerns

In the coming year, IT professionals will have to manage not just threats of data leakage and identity theft, but also growing consumer and employee concerns about data privacy.

Mr. Niraj Kapasi, IT auditor and chair of ISACA’s India Task Force, says, “Enterprises in India should be conscious that data protection goes beyond securing servers at data centers or office premises. With the growing number of cyberthreats globally, information risk can come from existing employees, customers, industrial surveillance by competitors, hackers, organized crime and even foreign governments.” He added, “It is important for business leaders to govern privacy, evaluate the risk around privacy, ensure proper security management and effectively govern sensitive information.”

Enterprises can use the COBIT 5 framework to govern their information and systems. The framework is available as a free download at www.isaca.org/cobit.

About the 2012 IT Risk/Reward Barometer

The IT Risk/Reward Barometer helps gauge current attitudes and organizational behaviours related to the risk and reward associated with the blurring boundaries between personal and work devices (BYOD), cloud computing, and increased enterprise risk related to online employee behaviour.

The study is based on September 2012 online polling of 4,512 ISACA members from 83 countries, including 305 members in India. To see the full results, visit www.isaca.org/risk-reward-barometer.

About ISACA

With 100,000 constituents in 180 countries, ISACA (www.isaca.org) is a global provider of knowledge, certifications, community and education on information systems assurance and security, enterprise governance and management of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance. ISACA offers the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) designations. ISACA also developed COBIT, which helps IT professionals and enterprise leaders fulfill their IT governance and management responsibilities and deliver business value.

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