Multi-cloud isn’t the future: we’re already there. While it’s often associated with benefits like cost optimization, business resilience and improved flexibility, multi-cloud isn’t a path every organization should take lightly. Unless driven by specific compliance or regulatory needs, adopting multi-cloud can add unnecessary complexity — especially when it comes to security.
Cloud infrastructure is growing at a pace that security teams simply can’t match. The complexity of today’s cloud environments, spanning multiple providers, regions and services, has created unprecedented challenges that traditional security models were never designed to handle.
3 Multi-Cloud Cybersecurity Challenges
- Multi-cloud platforms don’t always integrate with each other, increasing complexity.
- Fragmented visibility creates gaps in coverage that attackers can exploit.
- Talent shortages and budget limitations make it difficult to properly protect the cloud environments.
While these technologies drive innovation and new opportunities, they also widen the attack surface of organizations, thus creating new vulnerabilities and challenges. Meeting these needs requires security practices that are open and adaptable: a shift that is making open cloud security tools the emerging standard for securing modern environments.
Cloud Complexity Crisis
Cloud adoption has matured beyond single-vendor deployments. According to Prowler’s inaugural State of Cloud Security Report, today, 64 percent of organizations are operating in hybrid cloud environments and 55 percent are using multiple cloud providers. Each provider has its own tools, dashboards, and best practices, which don’t always integrate cleanly with one another or provide an efficient chain of command for team management. The result is fragmented visibility and gaps in coverage that attackers are increasingly ready to exploit.
At the same time, budget limitations, and ongoing talent shortages are making it harder for teams to stay ahead of these issues.
How Automation and AI Can Patch Cloud Security Challenges
To address these challenges, automation is on the rise. The report shows that while only 31 percent of organizations have fully automated their cloud security today, those that have are saving nearly 19 hours a week in manual effort. Automation allows teams to increase their available time to focus on high-value tasks and respond faster to threats.
Artificial intelligence is also gaining ground, with 79 percent of respondents using AI tools to monitor and manage cloud security. Yet, even with these technologies, 67 percent of organizations say they still lack a unified view across their cloud environments. The reason? The fragmented nature of current cloud security tooling makes end-to-end visibility near impossible to achieve.
Rise of Open Cloud Security
This is where open cloud security becomes tablestakes. Nearly 9 in 10 organizations surveyed now use open cloud security tools and they’re seeing real results. Among these users, 82 percent report better threat detection, 86 percent have experienced fewer breaches, and the vast majority credit these tools with driving innovation in their security programs.
Open tools offer transparency, flexibility, and the ability to integrate across different cloud platforms without vendor lock-in - explaining the reason for this shift. They help teams create a cohesive security posture in environments where no single provider’s tools can do the job alone. In an era of increasing cloud fragmentation, openness isn’t just a philosophical choice - it’s a practical necessity and organizations who haven’t already started to use these tools risk being left open to threats.
Cost is another factor accelerating adoption. Eighty percent of respondents say open tools have helped them rein in cloud operating costs, and 73 percent report spending less on security tooling overall. At a time when budgets are under scrutiny, that’s a powerful advantage.
Confidence vs. Coverage
Interestingly, the report highlights a disconnect between perceived and actual cloud security. While 96 percent of security professionals express confidence in their organization’s cloud security posture, that confidence is at odds with the fact that 67 percent admit they lack unified visibility across their cloud environments and 62 percent have experienced security incidents tied to misconfigurations in the past year. Without open, integrated solutions that provide comprehensive visibility and control, organizations are left exposed in ways they might not even realize.
The Path Forward is Open
The good news is that organizations recognize the need for change. Most of those still reliant on manual workflows plan to adopt automation within the next year. Compliance budgets are increasing too, with 75 percent of companies projecting an average 27 percent rise in spend to meet tightening regulatory demands.
But tooling alone won’t solve the problem. What’s needed is a fundamental shift in mindset and one that embraces openness, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Open cloud security tools provide the foundation for this approach, enabling teams to break down silos, unify visibility across platforms, and scale security in step with their infrastructure.
The future of cloud security will be defined by those who can move fastest to adopt open, adaptable solutions. As multi-cloud environments and AI-driven operations become the norm, security must be just as dynamic. The organizations that thrive will be those that build security strategies designed for complexity, not simplicity and for openness, not opacity.
Cloud adoption shows no sign of slowing down. If anything, the pace of innovation is accelerating, with new services, providers, and technologies reshaping the landscape daily. Security teams must rise to this challenge, and that starts with acknowledging that traditional approaches won’t suffice.
The time is now to prioritize and embrace open cloud security, not as a niche solution, but as the backbone of modern cloud operations. By doing so, organizations can ensure that as their cloud infrastructure scales, their ability to secure it scales, too.
