The Rise in Unstructured Data and AI Security Risks - Seguridad Mania.com - España y América Latina

As organizations generate increasing volumes of files, documents, communications, and logs across the cloud, they're also pushing traditional security models beyond their limits. This survey report, commissioned by Thales, explores how unstructured data defines both the operational value and growing risk of modern enterprises. Despite high confidence in security posture, many organizations lack full visibility into where unstructured data resides, leaving large portions of sensitive data unprotected. The research highlights how fragmented tools, manual processes, and shared ownership limit scalability and consistent control. At the same time, AI is emerging as both a powerful enabler and a significant risk. It introduces new attack vectors while also improving detection, classification, and automation. Key Takeaways: • Unstructured data accounts for the majority of nearly one-third (29%) of organizations' annual data growth. Few (35%) organizations report having full data visibility. The majority (56%) indicate that visibility is only partial. • Data classification practices remain inconsistent across organizations. Several (10%) organizations report having no sensitivity labeling for unstructured data at all. • Most (75%) organizations describe themselves as moderately or highly confident in their ability to secure data. However, most (68%) organizations also report a significant portion of their unstructured data remains unprotected. • Over one-third (36%) of organizations report using between 5–10 tools to manage unstructured data. Almost as many (32%) organizations use 11 or more tools. • Many (36%) organizations cite lack of automation as a challenge when scaling their data security. • Advanced, AI-driven threats were the most-identified (47%) top security risk to unstructured data in 2026.