Proofpoint released its second annual Data Security Landscape report, revealing that organizations continue to face widespread data loss as they struggle to protect sensitive information amid explosive data growth, AI adoption, and the emergence of AI agents in the workplace.
The report, based on insights from 1,000 security professionals across 10 countries, as well as Proofpoint platform data, reveals how the rapid adoption of AI-driven productivity tools and autonomous agents that handle sensitive data is compounding risk for organizations. Many lack the visibility and controls to govern this emerging “agentic workspace,” where humans and AI systems now work side by side. Meanwhile, surging data volumes are putting even greater strain on already stretched security teams.
“We’ve entered a new era of data security where insider threats, relentless data growth, and AI-driven change are testing the limits of traditional defenses,” said Ryan Kalember, chief strategy officer, Proofpoint. “Fragmented tools and limited visibility leave organizations exposed. The future of data protection depends on unified, AI-powered solutions that understand content and context, adapt in real time, and secure information across both human and agent activity.”
Key findings in the UAE include:
- People continue to drive most data loss incidents in the UAE: 34% of organizations attribute their most significant data loss events to careless employees or third-party contractors, while 38% cite compromised users and 21% point to malicious insiders.
- Proofpoint telemetry underscores an imbalance: just 1% of users are responsible for 76% of data loss events, emphasizing the importance of behavior-aware, adaptive security strategies. Data loss frequency also remains alarmingly high: respondents in the UAE reported an average of 10 incidents per year, with some organizations experiencing multiple incidents each month. These incidents can take weeks to resolve, leaving sensitive information exposed and security teams overburdened.
- Data growth and sprawl exacerbate the challenge: Enterprise data volumes are soaring, stretching visibility and control to the limit. 16% of organizations saw their data grow 30% or more over the past year. Among global enterprises with over 10,000 employees, 41% manage more than a petabyte of data. This unchecked expansion carries serious implications: 38% cite cloud and SaaS data sprawl as a top challenge, and 28% say redundant or obsolete data poses significant risk. Proofpoint platform data reinforces this, showing that 27% of cloud storage is abandoned—unused data that inflates costs and widens the attack surface.
- The rise of the agentic workspace and new data risks: As organizations rapidly deploy AI across enterprise workflows, it is emerging as a new class of insider risk rivaling human error. 38% of organizations in the UAE cite data loss via public or enterprise GenAI tools as a top concern, while 46% worry about sensitive data being used in AI training. AI agents—often operating as highly privileged superusers—introduce further risk, with 28% of organizations flagging unsupervised data access by agents as a critical threat. Oversight gaps amplify these risks: 48% of organizations lack sufficient visibility and controls over GenAI tools.
- Security teams are under strain amid fragmented toolsets: Fragmented security architectures continue to hinder visibility, response, and remediation efforts. 12% of organizations in the UAE report that resolving a data loss incident can take between one and four weeks. With 84% relying on six or more data security vendors, the resulting tool sprawl increases complexity and drains already overextended security teams.
- A call for unified, AI-driven data security programs: Security leaders are increasingly looking to holistic data security and insider risk solutions to reduce security risk and simplify operations. 78% of organizations have already deployed AI-enhanced data security capabilities to classify data. 44% of respondents see the greatest benefit of a unified data security solution as enabling the safe and productive use of AI, while 28% believe it will reduce data loss risk.
“The UAE continues to lead the region in digital transformation, and that leadership extends to adopting AI-driven data protection,” said Emile Abou Saleh, Vice President, Northern Europe, Middle East, Turkey & Africa at Proofpoint. “As we enter a new era of Agentic AI, organizations are increasingly aware of the need to protect sensitive data before it leaves the organization. Strengthening visibility and control at the intersection where humans and AI interact will be critical to safeguarding trust, ensuring compliance, and enabling innovation to thrive securely.”
To download the 2025 Data Security Landscape report, please visit:
https://www.proofpoint.com/us/resources/threat-reports/data-security-landscape-report
