Cloud security – or the lack thereof – is causing some significant headaches.

According to the Cloud Security Alliance, 11% of organizations responding to a survey said they experienced a security incident last year. In fact, the average number totaled five. Almost a third (27%) of respondents didn’t want to answer the question. Along those lines, 41% said they didn’t know whether a security incident had occurred.

Meanwhile, more than half of organizations now run at least 41% of their workloads in a public cloud. That’s double the number of organizations from 2019.

“[T]his trend toward public cloud will only continue,” the CSA says, noting the increase likely comes from the rise in remote work due to COVID-19.

Those findings all align with wider industry observations. And they underscore the reality that cloud environments continue to grow in complexity. Security no longer is a nice-to-have; it’s a must. And yet, one vendor told Channel Futures: “Quite possibly the most overlooked aspect of cloud and digital transformation is security.” (That struck us as a bold statement — feel free to weigh in on the comments.)

Missing the Mark?

Organizations that don’t rely on channel partner expertise seem more likely to miss the mark on cloud security. Yet even channel partners themselves – from managed service providers to agents – should keep examining their practices to make sure they’re not missing any gaps.

Of course, the degree to which they would do so depends on how deeply involved they are with cloud infrastructure and applications overall — from product selection and design to deployment and ongoing management. (Traditional agents, take note: The CSA reports that 58% of organizations are concerned about network security in their cloud setups.) The slideshow above explores suggestions and insight from several cloud vendors.

(In the meantime, If you’re looking for some peer-to-peer advice on under-the radar cloud opportunities, check out this slideshow. And if you’re exploring ways to make the most of cloud, go here.)