IT contractors will soon have available to them new software that will make cloud computing more secure, a new study claims.

Technicians from North Carolina State University claim to have invented software which protects the hypervisor, which allows virtualisation to occur, from cyber attacks.

IT contractors will recognise that current concerns over the security of data stored in virtualised networks are preventing many firms from adopting the system, according to the study.

Yet co-author Dr. Xuxian Jiang believes that the new software, which prevents the hypervisor from infiltration of new code and from deviating from what it perceives to be 'normal' behaviour, will dispel these concerns.

He said: "What we've done represents a significant advance in security for cloud computing and other virtualisation applications.

"Anyone interested in the virtualisation sector will be very interested in our work."

Last week, the security firm Sophos claimed IT departments needed be more active in keeping company directors informed of potential security threats involved with new systems.