One-third of companies still neglect data encryption

Although data security is cited as one of the most important considerations for IT professionals, many companies worldwide still rely on insufficient safeguards. A recent survey conducted by B2B International found that 35 percent of businesses don't use data encryption software.

The survey polled more than 5,000 IT professionals worldwide who answered questions about the encryption of specific files as well as the implementation of full disk encryption. Collectively, just 50 percent of companies were deploying either brand of the fundamental security technology. The survey did, however, find that most businesses have plans to reform their ways in the future, with more than 80 percent of those not using encryption expressing the intention to do so. Using data encryption secures critical information assets and can also protect organizations against the brand damage and regulatory sanctions associated with breaches, explained SC Magazine's Dan Kaplan.

Encryption is also one of the best ways to secure data in the cloud, wrote SC Magazine's Paige Leidig, because without encryption keys, hackers won't be able to exploit information stolen from virtual servers.