Encryption and Multi-Cloud Complexity: The Biggest Barriers

When asked about the most difficult aspects of protecting sensitive data, enterprise leaders pointed to three key challenges:

1. Managing encryption effectively across environments
2. Navigating complex multi-cloud architectures
3. Ensuring consistent enforcement of security policies

Data in transit has emerged as a major pressure point. A significant 83% of leaders agree that reducing third-party network hops directly improves security — reinforcing the need for controlled, transparent network paths.

AI also plays a dual role. While it drives innovation, 56% of respondents classify AI-related risks to critical data as moderate to extreme. Interestingly, UK leaders appear less concerned, with 64% viewing AI as a low or negligible network threat, suggesting varying maturity levels in AI governance.

Controls Exist — But Confidence Remains Low

Most enterprises have already implemented a wide range of security controls, including:

• Real-time security alerts (70%)
• SIEM integration for backbone traffic visibility (68%)
• Regular resilience testing against supply-chain disruptions and nation-state threats

Despite this, 48% of leaders lack confidence in their ability to demonstrate compliance with evolving data protection regulations such as:

• The EU Cyber Resilience Act
• China’s upcoming cybersecurity and data protection rules

This gap is particularly evident in France, where only 28% of organizations feel confident about regulatory compliance, compared to 60% in the UK.

Data Sovereignty: A Growing Operational and Legal Challenge

The report exposes critical visibility gaps across enterprise networks:

• 32% of leaders do not know the exact location of all their data centers
• This rises to 49% when third-party providers are included

With data sovereignty laws tightening globally, 77% of respondents say sovereignty requirements strongly influence their choice of backbone and connectivity providers.

Maintaining control over where data is stored, processed, and routed is now both a legal necessity and a security imperative.

Expert Insight: Why Enterprises Cannot Do This Alone

Commenting on the findings, Mattias Fridström, Chief Evangelist at Arelion, stated:

“Data security now dominates the enterprise risk agenda. Leaders are managing globally distributed networks, rising regulatory pressure, and increasing reliance on third parties. Confidence drops sharply once data leaves their direct control, driving urgent demand for transparency, stronger encryption governance, and sovereignty-aware routing.”

He further emphasized that enterprises require trusted partners with the scale, visibility, and expertise to protect data across borders, providers, and jurisdictions.