The 2019 Thales Cloud Security Study is a research report based on a survey of more than 3,300 executives across 8 countries. These respondents shared how their organizations are using the cloud and how they are approaching cloud security.

The study focuses on how businesses manage and protect data stored in cloud environments, and where the main gaps and challenges are. It gives a data-driven view of how organizations are rethinking their security strategies as they move more workloads and sensitive information into the cloud.

According to the 2019 Thales Cloud Security Study, many businesses are not adequately protecting data in the cloud. Despite broad cloud adoption among the more than 3,300 executives surveyed, the findings indicate that security practices often lag behind usage.

The study highlights a gap between how extensively organizations use cloud services and how consistently they apply strong security controls, such as encryption, key management, and access governance. In other words, cloud is widely used, but protection of cloud-based data is still catching up.

The gap identified in the 2019 Thales Cloud Security Study matters because it exposes organizations to avoidable risk. With more workloads and sensitive data moving to the cloud, inconsistent protection increases the likelihood and potential impact of data breaches.

For the more than 3,300 executives in 8 countries who participated, the findings are a signal to reimagine cloud security strategies. Addressing this gap typically means:

• Aligning security controls with the pace of cloud adoption
• Strengthening data protection measures such as encryption and key management
• Improving visibility and governance across multiple cloud environments

By closing this gap, organizations can better balance the benefits of cloud with a more robust and predictable security posture.