A surge of data breaches in the financial services industry was analyzed in a recent report by Lookout. The study reveals 70% of IT leaders surveyed reported a significant increase in data breaches compared to previous years. As the cloud-first, hybrid work landscape continues to evolve rapidly, financial institutions are compelled to adapt swiftly in order to protect their valuable data.

Nearly half of organizations (47%) struggle with the heightened difficulty of detecting and mitigating threats, while about one-fifth (18%) face a significant lack of control over their applications and data. Fifty-five percent of organizations are facing challenges in achieving effective data protection.

The scarcity of skilled security professionals presents a significant obstacle, affecting 41% of organizations and prompting a need for organizations to invest in talent development, training programs and strategic partnerships to build a competent workforce capable of safeguarding valuable data assets effectively.

More than half (52%) of organizations grapple with the level of detail allotted by their access controls, and would benefit if it were more in-depth. Eighty-two percent of organizations have a hybrid infrastructure, combining cloud and on-premises data storage. More than half of the organizations face challenges with various security products that do not work well together.