Chief information officers know that outsourcing sensitive information to a third party has inherent risks, but sometimes the alluring cost-savings of cloud computing are too enticing to ignore. As a result, decision-makers should know how to improve their cloud data security to ensure that all information remains safe, regardless of where it is stored, according to a CIO report.

"Cloud computing entails [intellectual property] issues similar to traditional IT outsourcing in that you are entrusting sensitive data to a provider who probably won't treat it as carefully as you would," HfS Research security director Jim Slaby said, according to the news source. "Your applications will be running on IT infrastructure you do not own or control."

To ensure a secure environment, IT managers may consider going above and beyond the service provider's security measures and implement additional protection solutions like end-to-end encryption, CIO reported.

Additionally, companies can consider installing a data classification program to keep track of where information is located and who has access to it. This will also help them remain compliant with industry standards, as it allows decision-makers to know where data is at all times, according to a TechTarget report.