Companies are losing control of their data as artificial intelligence tools and careless employees create unprecedented security challenges, according to a new Proofpoint report surveying 1,000 security professionals globally.
People Remain the Weakest Link
Human error drives most data breaches, with 58% of organizations blaming careless employees or contractors for their worst data loss incidents. The problem is highly concentrated: just 1% of users cause 76% of all data loss events. Organizations face an average of 11 data loss incidents annually, with some experiencing multiple breaches monthly.
Explosive Data Growth Compounds Problems
Nearly 30% of organizations saw their data volumes surge by 30% or more in the past year. For large enterprises, the scale is staggering: 41% of companies with over 10,000 employees now manage more than a petabyte of data.
Almost half (46%) cite cloud and SaaS data sprawl as a major challenge, while 27% of cloud storage sits abandoned and unused—inflating costs and creating security blind spots.
AI Tools Create New Dangers
The rise of AI-powered workplace tools introduces fresh risks. Two in five organizations worry about data loss through GenAI applications, while 44% admit lacking adequate oversight of these tools. AI agents operating with elevated privileges pose particular threats, with 32% of organizations concerned about unsupervised data access by automated systems.
The Path Forward
Security teams struggle with fragmented tools—64% rely on six or more different data security vendors. However, 65% have already deployed AI-enhanced capabilities to classify data, and 55% believe unified solutions will reduce data loss risk.
As Proofpoint’s Ryan Kalember notes, the future requires AI-powered systems that understand context and adapt in real-time to secure information across both human and automated activity.
