A recent report reveals that cyberattacks are a major concern for businesses worldwide. According to a study by Rubrik Zero Labs, a staggering 90% of IT and security professionals reported experiencing at least one successful cyberattack in 2024. This survey included over 1,600 leaders from ten different countries, highlighting a worrying trend in data security.
The report, titled “The State of Data Security in 2025: A Distributed Crisis,” found that nearly 20% of respondents faced more than two dozen cyber incidents in just one year. This alarming frequency of attacks has reshaped how companies approach risk management.
Supporting these findings, the Allianz Risk Barometer 2025, which surveyed nearly 3,800 respondents globally, identified cyber threats as the top business risk for the fourth consecutive year. About 38% of participants pointed to issues like data breaches, IT outages, and ransomware as their primary concerns.
The report also outlined the most common types of cyberattacks. Data breaches topped the list at 30%, followed closely by malware infections at 29%. Other significant threats included breaches related to Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud services, phishing schemes, and insider activity, all reported at 28%.
The impact of these incidents is significant. Many organizations have had to increase their cybersecurity budgets, with 40% of respondents indicating they did so. Additionally, 37% reported damage to their brand reputation, and 33% noted leadership changes as a direct result of security breaches.
As companies increasingly adopt hybrid IT environments and artificial intelligence technologies, new security challenges have emerged. The report revealed that 90% of participants manage hybrid cloud infrastructures, with about half relying on cloud services as their main platform. However, this complexity in data management has raised concerns, with 35% of respondents citing it as their biggest issue. Other challenges included a lack of centralized data oversight and insufficient visibility into cloud-hosted assets.
Rubrik’s internal data analysis showed that 36% of sensitive cloud-based files are considered high risk, mainly due to the presence of personally identifiable information and proprietary business materials.
Ransomware attacks remain a critical issue, with 86% of those affected admitting to paying a ransom to regain access to their data. Alarmingly, 74% of respondents reported that their backup and recovery systems were partially compromised, while 35% experienced complete breaches of these systems.
The use of multiple cloud platforms—92% of organizations use between two and five—has created gaps in identity and access management. Insider threats related to stolen credentials were reported by 28% of respondents, and Rubrik’s findings showed that 27% of high-risk files contained sensitive digital credentials.
In light of these findings, experts urge companies to adopt a proactive approach to data security. Joe Hladik from Rubrik Zero Labs emphasizes that organizations must prioritize the protection of their most valuable data and develop a security strategy focused on visibility, control, and rapid recovery. As cyber threats continue to evolve, the need for robust cybersecurity measures has never been more critical.