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IT service providers that used to be used by large firms are catering more and more to a mass of smaller companies keen to migrate towards cloud-based services and take advantage of cost savings, increased service and enhanced security.

But in doing so, these smaller companies are handing over key data to outside providers who are often targets for hackers looking to take whatever they can from multiple clients hosted on the same server. Hackers love multiple targets in one setting, which the cloud provides, so a cloud host could actually make data more vulnerable!

After viruses were found on servers belonging to Japanese weapons contractor, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in a cyber attack this week and the Sony customer credit card data theft earlier this year, both involving cloud-based systems, many companies now have serious concerns about data security and business continuity when outsourcing their websites, databases and e-commerce sections to cloud providers.

When tech-research group IDC asked businesses in 2008 what factors were most likely to discourage their use of cloud computing, 72% of small businesses and 63% of midsize companies said security was their chief worry. But by mid-2011, those numbers had dropped to 50% and 47%, respectively.

So, ask yourself - are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Many cloud-based IT services are stepping up security markedly, by finding the weaknesses in their systems and closing them before hackers can enter.

The SecPoint Cloud Penetrator’s key components identify all of these