Do Son 
A comprehensive study conducted by Rubrik Zero Labs has confirmed that in 2024, nearly 90% of IT and cybersecurity leaders worldwide encountered cyberattacks. The report, titled The State of Data Security in 2025: A Distributed Crisis, highlights a deeply concerning trend — hybrid IT environments, now the norm for modern enterprises, are introducing novel vulnerabilities for which organizations remain ill-prepared.
Experts emphasize that the transition to the cloud is often accompanied by a false sense of security. As noted by Joe Hladik, Head of Rubrik Zero Labs, many enterprises mistakenly entrust cloud service providers with sole responsibility for cybersecurity. In reality, threat actors are exploiting weaknesses inherent in hybrid architectures, persistently launching attacks through ransomware and credential theft.
The frequency of these incursions is escalating: nearly one in five organizations reported suffering more than 25 incidents in a single year — effectively, one attack every two weeks. The principal attack vectors include data breaches, malware infections, cloud platform compromise, phishing campaigns, and insider threats. The fallout is significant: a 40% increase in cybersecurity spending, reputational damage reported by 37% of respondents, and leadership changes in roughly a third of affected organizations.
Compounding the issue is the explosive growth in data volumes and the proliferation of AI-driven systems. A striking 90% of respondents disclosed that they now operate within hybrid cloud ecosystems, with over half of all workloads already migrated to the cloud. One in three survey participants identified data protection as their foremost challenge in this environment, while an equal share cited the lack of centralized governance and transparency.
Rubrik’s telemetry reveals that 36% of sensitive cloud-based files constitute high-risk data — including personal information, source code, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, API keys, and user credentials. These assets are precisely the kind cybercriminals covet as they pursue identity theft and unauthorized access to critical systems.
Particularly alarming is the state of backup infrastructure: among those affected by ransomware, 86% admitted to paying the ransom, and 74% acknowledged that their recovery systems had been partially compromised. In 35% of cases, backup environments were entirely breached.
The flexibility of hybrid architecture has become its Achilles’ heel: 92% of companies operate between two and five cloud or SaaS platforms, complicating access management. Attacks leveraging hijacked credentials and insider privileges are on the rise — a trend observed by 28% of respondents.
Ultimately, Rubrik advocates for a paradigm shift — from infrastructure-centric defense to data-centric security. Core priorities must include visibility, governance, data classification, and rapid recoverability. Without these pillars, hybrid landscapes will remain lucrative targets for adversaries.
