A new study from Thales, the 2025 Global Cloud Security Study, reveals a stark reality: organizations are struggling to keep pace with the evolving security challenges posed by rapidly expanding and increasingly AI-driven cloud environments. The report, conducted by S&P Global Market Intelligence 451 Research, highlights a significant disconnect between the accelerated adoption of cloud and AI technologies and the implementation of robust security measures.
The study, which surveyed nearly 3,200 security professionals across 20 countries, identifies cloud security as a top priority for 64% of respondents, with 17% ranking it as their number one concern. Strikingly, security for AI, a new addition to the priority list this year, has surged to second place, underscoring the immediate impact of AI integration on the threat landscape.
A key finding indicates that over half (52%) of organizations are now prioritizing AI security investments, often at the expense of traditional security budgets. This shift reflects a growing awareness of AI’s dual nature – while it offers unprecedented defensive capabilities, it also empowers adversaries with more sophisticated attack tools.
The report details the escalating complexity of cloud environments, with 55% of respondents finding cloud security more challenging than on-premises infrastructure, a 4-percentage-point increase from last year. Organizations now utilize an average of 2.1 public cloud providers alongside their on-premise systems, and rely on a staggering 85 SaaS applications. This sprawl creates significant challenges for consistent access control and data visibility.
Despite the widespread use of cloud services for sensitive data – with 85% of organizations reporting at least 40% of their cloud data as sensitive – only a small fraction is adequately protected. A mere 8% encrypt 80% or more of their cloud data, and only 66% have implemented multi-factor authentication (MFA). This leaves critical information highly vulnerable to attacks, with four of the top five most targeted assets in reported breaches being cloud-based.
Eric Hanselman, Chief Analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence 451 Research, emphasized, “The demands of AI projects, often operating in the cloud and requiring access to large volumes of sensitive data, further amplify the challenges in securing cloud assets.” The study points to stolen credentials and insufficient access controls as rapidly growing threats, cited by 68% of respondents.
The findings serve as a critical warning for enterprises. To remain resilient and competitive in this rapidly evolving digital landscape, organizations must bridge the security gap by embedding strong data protection into the core of their digital infrastructure, prioritize a comprehensive approach to cloud security, and invest in the skills and tools necessary to secure their AI-driven cloud environments.
