"We think it is because the rate at which data has been increasing has been phenomenal," he says. The recognition of big data as a phenomenon "has been escalating the importance of data itself," he continues.

Information Security was displaced as No. 1 in the 2011 list, which was topped by Control and Use of Mobile Devices, which Shimamoto attribute to the bring-your-own-device trend. But in 2010 and the string of years leading up to 2011, security held a lock on the top spot. For 2013, the issue, technically called Securing the IT environment, dropped to No. 2.

The survey was conducted separately in the United States and Canada with a slightly different list produced by the Chartered Accountants north of the border. However, the results for the top two issues were the same. There were 1,670 complete responses. in the U.S., with 36 percent of these from those in public accounting, 36 with jobs in business and industry and 28 percent holding posts in consulting, government and not-for-profit organizations.

The drop in confidence in their organization's ability to address goals was notable. Only with the top two issues did more than 50 percent of U.S. participants expressed confidence or a high level of confidence in achieving goals. With all 10 issues, the confidence levels were down from 2012. Canadians had a brighter outlook with a majority confidence on four issues. Accountants in both countries expressed the least degree of confidence on the issue of Leveraging Emerging Technologies, which was the No. 8 issue in the United States, with 27 percent expressing confidence, and the No. 7 issue in Canada with 22 percent feeling that way.

The growth of threats to data from outside and additional standards regarding data are probably to blame for the decline in confidence, Shimamoto says.

The Top 10 issues follow. The percentage figures represent the number of respondents who said they are confident to highly confident their organizations are adequately addressing these issues.

1. Managing and Retaining Data (55 percent)
2. Securing the IT Environment (51 percent)
3. Managing IT Risks and Compliance (47 percent)
4. Ensuring Privacy (45 percent)
5. Managing System Implementation (44 percent)
6. Preventing and Responding to Computer Fraud (44 percent)
7. Enabling Decision Support and Analytics (37 percent)
8. Governing and Managing IT Investment and Spending (38 percent)
9. Leveraging Emerging Technologies (27 percent)
10. Managing Vendors and Service Providers (47 percent)