Data Sprawl Drives Spike in Cyber Incidents Across Hybrid Environments

Strategic Insights -

As organizations continue to adopt hybrid cloud and SaaS environments, the threat of cyberattacks has accelerated, with 90% of IT and security leaders reporting cyberattacks in the past year. According to the Rubrik Zero Labs Report, "The State of Data Security in 2025: A Distributed Crisis," the persistence of ransomware attacks, coupled with the exploitation of hybrid cloud vulnerabilities, shows that threat actors are always one step ahead. Companies must take action and adopt a data-centric security strategy that prioritizes visibility, control, and quick recovery to protect their most valuable data.

Key Takeaways:

  • 90% of IT and security leaders report experiencing cyberattacks in the past year, with an average of at least one breach every other week.
  • The most common attack vectors cited were data breaches (30%), malware on devices (29%), cloud or SaaS breaches (28%), phishing (28%), and insider threats (28%).
  • Consequences of these attacks include increased security costs (40%), reputational damage and loss of customer confidence (37%), and forced leadership changes (33%).
  • The widespread adoption of AI has significantly exacerbated the challenge of data sprawl, with 35% of organizations citing securing data across varied ecosystems as their top challenge.
  • 36% of sensitive files in the cloud are classified as high risk and are largely composed of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
  • 92% of organizations use between two and five cloud and SaaS platforms, making it difficult to maintain strong access controls across distributed systems.
  • Ransomware remains a persistent threat, with 86% of organizations experiencing a successful attack paying a ransom to recover their data.
  • Insider threats are intensifying, fueled by the complexity of today's hybrid environments, with 28% of IT leaders citing compromised credentials as the primary cause.

Statistics:

  • 1 in 5 organizations globally experienced more than 25 cyberattacks in 2024 alone (average of at least 1 breach every 2 weeks).
  • 5.8 billion total files were analyzed across cloud and SaaS environments, with over 175 million sensitive files classified across customer environments.
  • 72% of organizations that experienced a successful ransomware attack reported paying a ransom to recover their data.
  • 92% of organizations use between 2-5 cloud and SaaS platforms.
  • 37% of respondents reported reputational damage and loss of customer confidence as a consequence of a cyberattack.

Sources:

  • "The State of Data Security in 2025: A Distributed Crisis" by Rubrik Zero Labs
  • Rubrik telemetry data
  • Wakefield partnership insights
  • Rubrik Zero Labs Report