Fear of cyber attacks holding Office 365 adoption back

Businesses in the EMEA region re increasingly using Microsoft’s Office 365 solutions, but they’re doing it with a dose of fear from cyber-attacks and similar malicious actions. This was concluded in the new Barracuda Networks report, entitled Office 365 Adoption: Drivers, Risks and Opportunities.

Based on a poll of more than 1,100 organizations in EMEA, the report says almost two thirds (62 percent) are now using Office 365. This is a jump from last year’s 50 percent. Of those that still don’t use the service, almost half (40 percent) said they’re planning to do so in the future (49 percent in the US).

However, ransomware is seen as a huge concern. More than 90 percent of businesses fear this form of malware, with almost half (48 percent) admitting to already being a victim. However, just three percent actually paid ransom.

Commenting on the findings Chris Ross, senior sales VP, International, at Barracuda Networks said: "As year-on-year adoption of Office 365 continues to increase in EMEA it’s natural to assume that concerns over cyber threats will keep pace. What’s encouraging to see is that businesses are waking up to the importance of a layered approach, which suggests a better understanding of their liabilities when it comes to cloud adoption."

Email is the biggest attack vector (70 percent), the report stated, followed by web traffic (18 percent) and network traffic (12 percent).

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