Cisco Survey Reveals Critical Cloud Security Trends

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), in partnership with TechTarget’s Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), has released a new survey, The State of Cloud Security Platforms and DevSecOps, focusing on how organizations manage security in cloud-native environments. The study gathered insights from over 1,000 industry professionals across IT, cybersecurity, and application development sectors, revealing key strategies to enhance cloud security. As more organizations embrace multicloud environments, the survey highlights the growing need for robust security practices to protect cloud infrastructure and applications.

According to the survey, most organizations now rely on multiple cloud service providers, with many using over three to meet diverse business needs. This multicloud trend is set to continue as businesses turn to public, private, and hybrid clouds to meet application requirements, industry standards, and operational preferences. However, the survey found that misconfigurations present a significant security risk. Although 79% of organizations use DevOps practices, only 26% secure the majority of their cloud-native applications, leaving them vulnerable to breaches, downtime, and unauthorized access.

One of the key insights from the survey is the importance of integrating security measures early in the development process. The failure to do so has resulted in an increase in security incidents, highlighting the need for stronger security adoption from the outset. Nearly half of the organizations plan to enhance their DevSecOps practices in the next two years to address security weaknesses in their cloud applications. By integrating security tools, businesses can improve their ability to respond to incidents and manage vulnerabilities more effectively.

The survey also revealed a strong demand for faster threat detection and remediation tools. Organizations report experiencing significant business impacts from the time gap between threat detection and response, prompting investment in advanced tools to accelerate detection and mitigate the effects of attacks. The data underscores the urgency for companies to invest in cloud security platforms and DevSecOps solutions, including cloud workload protection and entitlement management, within the next year.

As organizations increasingly rely on multiple cloud service providers, addressing vulnerabilities related to misconfigurations and delayed security integration is critical. By prioritizing investment in cloud security platforms and enhancing DevSecOps practices, businesses can better protect their cloud environments, mitigate risks, and ensure operational resilience.