Insufficient security measures in the realm of cloud computing are rendering organizations in the UAE and KSA vulnerable to data breaches, as indicated by recent research from Illumio. The Illumio Cloud Security Index reveals that a considerable 54 percent of breaches in the UAE and KSA are now stemming from the cloud, resulting in an annual financial impact of $2.3 million USD for these organizations. This is particularly disconcerting in light of the following findings:
Concerns regarding inadequate security practices are largely attributed to the challenge of identifying and responding to risks in the cloud; 97 percent express the need for enhanced visibility into connectivity with third-party software. This visibility deficit is hampering organizations’ ability to counteract attacks, as evidenced by 97 percent indicating the urgency to improve their response time to cloud breaches. Furthermore, 98 percent are apprehensive about the connectivity between their cloud services and on-premises environments, perceiving it as a heightened risk of a breach.
Respondents are also apprehensive about the repercussions of cloud-based attacks. Service downtime is identified as the most significant risk in the UA (38 percent), significantly surpassing the global average of 29 percent, underscoring the critical role of the cloud in business operations. This is closely followed by a loss of productivity (35 percent) and the prospect of lawsuits (33 percent), notably higher than the global average of 21 percent. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that enhancing cloud security is a top priority for 89 percent of respondents in the upcoming year.
Zero Trust Segmentation (ZTS) emerges as the perceived solution, with 89 percent believing it holds the potential to significantly enhance their cloud security. However, only 33 percent currently implement ZTS across both on-premises and cloud environments, falling short of the global average (48 percent).
