Media and entertainment business and technology executives are worried about the security of the cloud. And while massive distributed denial of service (DDOS) are happening with regularity, most media execs are not familiar with the details of DDOS, nor are they confident that their site could withstand such an attack, according to a recent survey of 261 media and entertainment executives by Broadcasting & Cable and VideoEdge Magazines. According to their report, Secure My Site –Media Security Concerns, Beliefs and Attitudes, perceived and real threats make security a major issue for media companies in the U.S. today. In fact, over half of the media and entertainment executives surveyed said that they have lost sleep over the potential threats to security posed by cyber-attacks, with 13% saying they often endure sleepless nights.

Among the report findings:

• Nearly 80% of media executives said that Web security is “very important” or “extremely important” to their organizations, and virtually all of them plan to spend the same amount or more on security solutions in the coming year.
• Traditional TV companies (broadcasters, pay TV companies, and programming service providers) are even more focused on security, with 89% of executives from these companies saying security is at least “very important” to their business.
• Though media executives are reluctant to admit security problems, 28% of survey participants said their organizations have experienced a cyber-attack or data breach. Almost all of those reported that one or more corporate Web sites were forced offline because of the incident.
• The most common problem appears to be Web site defacement, as 75% of cyber-attack victims said that hackers changed the appearance of their site, which can be detrimental to the brand.
• A quarter of the media executives surveyed said that their corporate data were breached as a result of the cyber-attack they suffered, though 38% say they suffered a loss of corporate intellectual property.