Almost half of IT experts are deterred from keeping sensitive data in the cloud out of fear of government intervention and possible legal action, according to a new survey from Lieberman Software.

The survey looked at IT and cloud experts’ attitudes to storing data in the cloud, and it revealed that government and legal interference puts 48 percent of them off from entering the cloud environment in the first place, according to a press release.

These figures highlight that IT managers are deterred from the Cloud because they are unsure if their organization’s sensitive data is adequately protected and will pass IT security audits or government regulatory checks.  

Other survey results revealed that 88 percent think there is a chance that some of its organization’s data hosted in the cloud could be lost, corrupted or accessed by unauthorized individuals. Eighty-six percent don’t’ trust the Cloud for more sensitive data, and 51 percent don’t’ trust the cloud for any of their personal data, the release states.

The survey was conducted at the Cloud Security Alliance Congress among 300 IT professionals. Seventy percent of survey participants were from companies with more than 1,000 employees; 50 percent were from companies with more than 5,000 employees.