Lockheed Martin and its Cyber Security Alliance partners have released a study revealing security remains the single biggest concern on the minds of government information technology decision-makers when it comes to cloud computing. Despite these security concerns, 50 per cent are now considering cloud applications for their agencies, versus only 12 per cent a year ago.

Two-thirds of participants cited security as the most important element in their evaluations. At the same time, those more familiar with cloud computing are more than twice as likely to trust it, 57 per cent versus 24 per cent. Concerns about security are not the only obstacle holding back federal agencies from moving to the cloud.