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Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’ Understanding of Security Evaluation of Cloud-Based Business Intelligence Systems and Its Challenges

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Information Security (ISSA 2018)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 973))

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Abstract

Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are encouraged to seek new business opportunities by adopting and utilising cloud-based services, their understanding of threats, vulnerabilities and risk evaluation in the cloud environment, which is crucial in the success of cloud-based business intelligence (BI) adoption, is hardly known. The purpose of this study was to investigate SMEs’ understanding of security evaluation of cloud-based BI and associated challenges. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 109 SME owners/managers from selected South African provinces in which data was collected by means of an electronic and postal questionnaire. The study found that SME owners/managers were aware of conventional security challenges in the cloud-based services including BIs, had a basic understanding of security evaluation in general, understood the need to evaluate cloud-based BIs in terms of physically checking for vulnerabilities and data security and were not proficient in performing security evaluations of cloud-based BIs and relied on experts. SMEs face predicaments in evaluating cloud-based BI due to a lack of appropriate tools they can use. The study concluded that SME owners/managers have a basic understanding of security evaluation and challenges it poses.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria, South Africa

    Moses Moyo & Marianne Loock

Authors
  1. Moses Moyo
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  2. Marianne Loock
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Moses Moyo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

    Hein Venter

  2. University of South Africa, Florida, Gauteng, South Africa

    Marianne Loock

  3. University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Gauteng, South Africa

    Marijke Coetzee

  4. University of South Africa, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

    Mariki Eloff

  5. University of Pretoria, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

    Jan Eloff

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Moyo, M., Loock, M. (2019). Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’ Understanding of Security Evaluation of Cloud-Based Business Intelligence Systems and Its Challenges. In: Venter, H., Loock, M., Coetzee, M., Eloff, M., Eloff, J. (eds) Information Security. ISSA 2018. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 973. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11407-7_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11407-7_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11406-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-11407-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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