Report Says Digital Transformation Era is Putting Organizations’ Sensitive Data at Risk

January 29, 2019

A new report says that as organizations embrace new technologies, such as multi-cloud deployments, they are struggling to implement proper data security.

The 2019 Thales Data Threat Report notes that 97 percent of the survey respondents reported their organization was already underway with some level of digital transformation and, with that, confirmed they are using and exposing sensitive data within these environments. Aggressive digital transformers are most at risk for data breaches, but alarmingly, the study finds that less than a third of respondents (only 30%) are using encryption within these environments. The study also found a few key areas where encryption adoption and usage are above average: IoT (42%), Containers (47%) and Big Data (45%).

The Reality of Multi-Cloud Risk

As companies move to the cloud or multi-cloud environments as part of their digital transformation journey, protecting their sensitive data is becoming increasingly complex. Nine out of 10 respondents are using, or will be using, some type of cloud environment, and 44% rated complexity of that environment as a perceived barrier to implementing proper data security measures. In fact, this complexity is ahead of staff needs, budget restraints and securing organizational buy-in.

Despite Increase in Data Breaches Enterprises Still Not Investing in Protection

Globally, 60% of organizations say they have been breached at some point in their history, with 30% experiencing a breach within the past year alone. In a year where breaches regularly appear in headlines, the U.S. had the highest number of breaches in the last three years (65%) as well as in the last year (36%).

According to the survey results, "The bottom line is that whatever technologies an organization deploys to make digital transformation happen, the easy and timely access to data puts this data at risk internally and externally. The majority of organizations, 86%, feel vulnerable to data threats. Unfortunately, this does not always translate into security best practices as evidenced by the less than 30% of respondents using encryption as part of their digital transformation strategy."

Ransomware and the propulsion of the extortion economy has rapidly eclipsed into a national priority. Recently, we observed the catastrophic impact of a widescale ransomware attack impacting gas pipelines and raising national gas prices overnight.