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The rapid expansion of hybrid and multi-cloud environments has revolutionized enterprise IT, opening the door to greater flexibility, scalability, and innovation. However, this transformation comes with a significant downside: a surge in cyberattacks targeting cloud and SaaS platforms. According to a recent global report, a staggering 90% of IT and security leaders experienced at least one cyberattack in the past year within their cloud or SaaS environments. This alarming statistic underscores the growing and complex cybersecurity challenges facing modern organizations.
Cloud Adoption: A Double-Edged Sword
As businesses increasingly adopt hybrid and multi-cloud architectures, 89% of surveyed IT leaders now rely on multiple cloud platforms to store data and run applications. These distributed systems offer numerous advantages, including enhanced scalability and the ability to innovate rapidly. However, the flip side of this evolution is an expanded attack surface, making it more difficult to protect sensitive data and applications across diverse platforms.
The study, which surveyed over 1,600 cybersecurity executives across ten countries and regions (Americas, APAC, EMEA), highlights how the shift to cloud-based systems has drastically changed the cybersecurity landscape. Security leaders are now tasked with the complex challenge of securing data across disparate platforms, while also contending with a lack of centralized visibility and control. Furthermore, the evolving nature of cyber threats means that traditional security approaches are no longer sufficient.
Identity-Based Attacks and the Rise of Ransomware
The nature of cyberattacks has changed significantly in recent years. Whereas legacy threats were primarily driven by malware, the most common attack vectors now involve identity-based breaches. The majority (nearly 80%) of cyber incidents observed in the past year were attributed to identity-related attacks, such as credential abuse, social engineering, and compromised accounts used for lateral movement within cloud environments.
The impact of these attacks is severe. According to CrowdStrikeās 2025 Global Threat Report, cloud intrusions increased by 26% in 2024. The average time it took for cybercriminals to escalate from an initial compromise to broader system control dropped dramatically to just 48 minutes. This rapid breakout time highlights the urgency of improving security measures within cloud ecosystems.
Ransomware continues to be a dominant threat, with 86% of organizations that suffered an attack in 2024 admitting to paying extortion demands in exchange for decrypted data. Alarmingly, nearly 75% of these organizations had their critical backup and recovery resources compromised, and 35% reported that their entire backup strategy had been destroyed during the attack.
Cloud Security Myths: A False Sense of Safety
One of the key findings of the report is the widespread misconception about cloud-native security. Many organizations assume that cloud service providers (CSPs) are fully responsible for securing their data, leading to significant gaps in backup and disaster recovery planning. This misbelief can have catastrophic consequences. The study highlights incidents like the 2017 GitLab database loss, where the lack of adequate cloud backup protocols resulted in significant and irrecoverable data loss.
As hybrid and multi-cloud strategies become more prevalent, organizations are urged to rethink their security approach. Traditional backup and recovery strategies, which worked for on-premises environments, are no longer sufficient to protect cloud-hosted data. A proactive approach to cloud securityāone that incorporates Zero Trust models, robust automation, and centralized threat managementāis essential to safeguarding critical data.
What Undercode Say:
The findings of this report serve as a wake-up call for organizations relying on hybrid and multi-cloud architectures. As the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, security leaders must prioritize protecting their cloud environments from increasingly sophisticated and frequent attacks. One of the main concerns is the significant rise of identity-based attacks, which bypass traditional security measures and target weak points in authentication processes.
The prevalence of cloud intrusions, especially as they relate to ransomware, underscores the importance of strengthening backup strategies. While paying ransoms may seem like a quick fix, it exposes organizations to even greater risks, including the destruction of essential backup resources. The traditional notion that cloud service providers are solely responsible for data protection needs to be dispelled. Organizations must take a more active role in ensuring that their cloud security protocols are robust and that they have a solid plan in place for disaster recovery.
A key strategic recommendation from the study is the adoption of a Zero Trust security framework. In a Zero Trust environment, no user or device is trusted by default, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the network perimeter. This approach helps organizations manage access controls more effectively, minimizing the potential impact of compromised credentials or insider threats.
Automation is also critical in modern cybersecurity. With cloud ecosystems becoming more complex, it is no longer feasible to rely on manual interventions to detect and respond to threats. By automating key security processesāsuch as threat detection, vulnerability management, and data backupāorganizations can reduce response times and improve their ability to mitigate risks.
In conclusion, as organizations continue to migrate to hybrid and multi-cloud environments, they must be proactive in addressing the unique security risks posed by these platforms. Only by understanding and addressing these risks can businesses protect themselves from the growing threat landscape and maintain the integrity of their digital infrastructures.
Fact Checker Results:
- Identity-based attacks have emerged as the dominant threat, with over 80% of incidents linked to compromised credentials and social engineering.
- Cloud intrusions rose by 26% in 2024, with breakout times dropping to just 48 minutes, emphasizing the speed and sophistication of modern cyberattacks.
- Ransomware and backup vulnerabilities are significant concerns, with 75% of affected organizations reporting the loss of critical backup and recovery resources during attacks.
References:
Reported By: cyberpress.org
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