The 2026 Cloud Security Report

The 2026 Cloud Security Report identifies a critical challenge facing enterprise security teams: the "cloud complexity gap." Based on insights from over 1,100 cybersecurity professionals worldwide, the research reveals that while cloud security budgets continue to rise, confidence and maturity aren't keeping pace.

Organizations now operate across increasingly complex hybrid and multi-cloud environments, yet most lack strong confidence in their ability to detect and respond to threats in real time. The primary obstacle isn't lack of investment—it's fragmentation. Tool sprawl and visibility gaps have emerged as the top barrier to effective cloud security, compounded by persistent talent shortages that leave teams struggling to manually correlate alerts across disconnected systems that were never designed to integrate.

The data reveals a fundamental shift in how security leaders are thinking about cloud protection. When asked how they would rebuild their security strategy from scratch, nearly two-thirds say they would choose a unified platform approach over traditional best-of-breed point solutions—a clear signal that integration and consolidation have become strategic imperatives. The report examines why identity, misconfiguration, and data exposure remain the dominant risk areas, and why current automation approaches fall short while attackers increasingly operate at machine speed. Download the full report to explore detailed findings, year-over-year trends, and practical principles for moving from fragmented defenses to unified cloud security. Discover how Fortinet's cloud security solutions help organizations achieve complete visibility and control across multi-cloud environments, enabling them to close the cloud complexity gap with integrated protection that keeps pace with modern threats.