New research shows top business concerns in AI and cloud security
Cloud security remains the most important concern for businesses around the world, but over half of companies are interested in keeping AI investments safe.
Keeping these systems safe is now at the forefront of mind for businesses around the world as cloud adoption continues to grow and AI is integrated deeper into business processes.
According to the 2025 Cloud Security Survey from technology and cybersecurity firm Thales, cloud security is a key concern for IT leaders, but 52% of respondents to the S&P Global Market Intelligence 451 survey prioritize investing in AI security over all other concerns.
There are no free articles this month
“The accelerated shift towards cloud and AI forces businesses to rethink how they manage large-scale risks,” said Sebastien Cano, Senior Vice President of Cybersecurity Products at Thales in a statement.
“It is clear that security strategies are not adapted to adoption as more than half of cloud data is currently classified as highly sensitive, but only a small percentage are fully encrypted. To remain resilient and competitive, organizations need to embed strong data protection at the core of their digital infrastructure.”
64% of respondents ranked cloud security on top five concerns, with 17% saying it was a top priority for their organizations.
Thales' research also found that there are two cloud providers per organization, but most companies continue to maintain their on-premises infrastructure. Securing the cloud is even more challenging for 55% of respondents, with a 4% increase from the previous year, and software as a service usage surged to 85 SaaS applications per enterprise, further challenges ongoing security.
61% of respondents report using five or more tools for data discovery alone, while 57% use at least five encryption key managers.
With so many businesses relying on cloud infrastructure, it's no surprise that four of the five most maliciously targeted assets are in the cloud. 68% of respondents reported an increase in access-based attacks using stolen credentials. 85% of organizations believe that at least 40% of data stored in the cloud are sensitive, but worryingly, only 66% of ORGs implement Multifactor authentication.
Perhaps even more worrying, human error remains a key factor in cloud security incidents.
“As the number of respondents increases, challenges in securing cloud assets have been reported, which is an issue that is further amplified by the demands of AI projects that often work in the cloud and require access to large amounts of sensitive data.”
“To exacerbate this issue, four of the top five target assets of reported attacks are cloud-based. In this environment, strengthening cloud security and streamlined operations is an essential step to increasing overall security effectiveness and resilience.”
You can read the full report here.
David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has written about technology for over 20 years and has worked in a variety of print and online titles in his career. He enjoys grasping cybersecurity. In particular, we can talk about Lego.
