As organizations do more digital business, especially in the cloud and delivering apps they are increasingly facing new security concerns. A recent Citrix Qualtrics (NASDAQ:CTXS) survey shows that more companies are moving away from device-centric, platform-specific endpoint security technologies toward an approach that secures their applications and data everywhere.

The survey revealed that:

  • More than half of Citrix customers reported that they are changing the way their Security Operations teams are run because of the increase in ransomware, targeted malware and phishing attacks.
  • Just over 48 percent said that end-to-end protection of applications and data was most important to protecting their always-on business.
  • And 56 percent are looking more closely at how to simplify management and monitoring of SSL certificates.
  • In addition to the Citrix survey, a July 2016 Forrester Security Business Technographics report fielded between March-May, 2016, found that:
  • 62 percent of security decision makers report that they would like to accelerate their digital business in the next twelve months.
  • And 65 percent say they would like to improve application security capabilities and services.
  • 47 percent say they’re implementing or expanding IoT security in the next 12 months, but 30 percent are challenged by privacy concerns.
  • 20 percent are challenged by the compromise of sensitive data.

The secure delivery of apps and data is critical for businesses to ensure the safety of their sensitive information. As more organizations face challenges presented by emerging trends such as cloud, IoT and analytics, they will need to shift thinking away from protecting each device to securing sensitive applications and data, Citrix says.

Business is Always On. Security Cannot Stand in the Way.

Security fears from the increase in targeted business attacks are changing the way companies conduct business. Devices are accessing information all the time – over public networks, across geographic boundaries and from the cloud – requiring IT to rethink their security and compliance approach. In fact, 64 percent of Citrix customers reported that their top priority as they move more data to a cloud environment is policy enforcement to meet compliance regulations.

Businesses want to adopt new technology, but are still stuck catching up on compliance regulations. By shifting away from device-level, platform-specific endpoint security solutions, businesses can more easily achieve compliance and focus on adopting new technology to improve employee productivity and reduce risk to sensitive business information.

Citrex, which merged its GoTo business with LogMeIn earlier this week, bought Raleigh-based Sharefile in 2011 and maintains a Raleigh unit.