IT contractors may be required to help firms to bolster their security processes, as a new report shows that many do not really know what they are doing when it comes to cloud computing.

Research from Courion finds that one in seven companies admit they know there are potential security violations in their cloud applications, but they don't know what to do about it.

The survey also found that a sizeable 74.8 per cent of firms could not identify the one party responsible for ensuring the safety of data stored in the cloud.

Courion suggests that the adoption of cloud solutions appears to be outpacing the growth in security controls needed.

"These results show that many organisations are not currently doing the proper due diligence to ensure that sensitive data is being accessed by the right employees," the firm says in a statement.

IT Governance recently warned that the cyber attack is the dominant threat to UK security.