The masters of encryption: business decision-makers

Pfungstadt, July 2, 2024 - According to a survey of companies in Germany conducted by data encryption company eperi in the second quarter of 2024, the encryption of sensitive data is a matter for the majority of managers. 87.5 percent of business decision-makers are decisive when it comes to the issue of encrypting company data.

“The high level of sensitivity among management can be attributed to the fact that data encryption is no longer a purely technical measure,” says Andreas Steffen, CEO of eperi. “Companies are concerned with a high level of resilience in the fight against cybercrime, industrial espionage and data protection in general. In addition, the widespread discussion about NIS2 and the personal liability of management enshrined in it has created additional awareness at management level.”

Disagreement: managers and IT professionals attest to different levels of protection for sensitive data

In the survey, both managers and IT professionals stated that 86.5 percent of companies use cloud services and/or rely on external data centers (37.5 percent). When it comes to the question of whether companies encrypt sensitive data, the results differ significantly not only between sectors, but also between managers and IT professionals. While banks and insurance companies attest to a high level of encryption of sensitive data at 84.2 percent, this figure is only 37.5 percent in the retail sector. The discrepancy between management and IT professionals is striking. While 71% of business decision-makers state that they encrypt all sensitive data in the company, only 64.3% of IT professionals are of this opinion.

“The difference in perception between managers and IT professionals as to whether all sensitive data in the company is encrypted is a dangerous situation, as it creates gaps in data protection that can easily be exploited by cyber criminals or potentially lead to problems with legal compliance,” comments Andreas Steffen.

Managers fear government and industrial espionage in particular

The question of what management expects to gain from encrypting sensitive data reveals different goals and motivations. 58%, and therefore the highest proportion of business decision-makers, want to use encryption to protect their data from government and industrial espionage. Slightly fewer, 48.9% of managers, aim to use encryption for regulatory legal security, for example for NIS2. The relationship between managers and IT professionals is striking when it comes to defense against cybercrime: while only 50 percent of managers want to use encryption to protect against cybercrime, IT professionals (60.7 percent) attest to the significantly greater protection potential of cryptography.