#USA #New York #Cloud Security #AI Security #Check Point

Check Point Software Technologies, a global leader in cyber security solutions, has recently published its 2026 edition of the Cloud Security Report, which highlights the widening gulf between the rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and the readiness of organizations to secure their cloud infrastructures. Moreover, the report illustrates a worrying trend wherein the security blind spots identified in 2025 have escalated into more complex challenges by 2026.

According to the findings, organizations are no longer grappling solely with visibility challenges; they are also facing significant hurdles in governance, control, and the real-time application of security policies. The advent of AI is reshaping user behavior patterns, the way applications communicate, and even the pathways through which threats infiltrate environments. As of 2026, while 77% of organizations have updated their cloud security strategies in response to AI developments, only a mere 26% have put the necessary architectures in place to implement these strategies effectively. This disparity reveals a staggering 51-point gap between strategic intentions and execution capabilities.

Furthermore, attackers are leveraging AI tools to enhance their phishing tactics, generate malware, and launch attacks at speeds that traditional security models can no longer handle. The ramifications are evident in the statistics; within the past year, 78% of organizations reported either confirming or suspecting AI-related security incidents.

Paul Barbosa, VP of Cloud Security and SASE at Check Point, remarked, "The 2026 Cloud Security Report affirms what many security professionals have already sensed: the pace of AI adoption is outstripping the architectural development necessary for controlling it. Now, AI agents operate within live systems, and data is exchanged through external AI services. However, many companies are still lacking the visibility and control functions necessary to keep pace with these changes. At Check Point, we believe security must be integrated from the outset into architecture. It’s crucial to embed security across every layer, from infrastructure to cloud environments, and especially during runtime, ensuring that visibility, control, and security are upheld at every operational level."

The report illuminated several critical findings relating to cloud-native environments:

• - Infrastructural Inconsistencies: 52% of AI workloads span hybrid environments, with 64% of organizations acknowledging the necessity for redesigning their architecture.
• - Data Center Security Gaps: 76% of organizations deem data security paramount for AI; however, only 35% confirm their current setups meet existing needs.
• - Performance Challenges: Just 24% of organizations believe they can fully inspect AI traffic without hindering performance, and 71% reported an increase in false positives reported by Web Application Firewalls (WAF).
• - Operational Complexities: 88% indicate that AI has increased the complexity of security operations, with 67% reporting fragmented policies.
• - Lack of Visibility: 54% have encountered AI-related security incidents; additionally, 24% couldn’t verify such incidents due to visibility issues—indicating more than three-quarters of organizations faced incidents or struggle to assess their occurrence.
• - Identity Risks: 48% identified non-human identities (AI agents, APIs, etc.) as their primary concern.
• - Inconsistent Access Models: With only 16% of organizations employing consistent controls across environments, 24% admitted to lacking AI-specific access controls.

To address these gaps, the report emphasizes the necessity for an integrated architecture prioritizing prevention across clouds, data centers, SaaS, and endpoints. Check Point offers its Hybrid Mesh Network Security, which comprises:

• - Unified Management: 86% of business leaders consider integrated security management across the cloud, data centers, and edge essential for AI workloads. The hybrid mesh architecture ensures consistent policies and protections, regardless of where data and workloads reside.
• - Prevention-Focused Security: Through AI-driven threat analysis, ransomware, zero-day threats, and data leaks can be effectively blocked in real-time; the 2026 Miercom report showed a remarkable 99.8% effectiveness rating.
• - Secure Connections and Threat Mitigation: Identity-based protections authenticate and secure users, devices, and applications in real-time without sacrificing performance, establishing consistent security across all access points.
• - AI Defense Plane: An integrated platform controlling the connections, deployment, and operational methods of AI ensures runtime protections across employees utilizing AI, applications, and agent-based systems.
• - Agentic Network Security Orchestration: The 51-point gap between strategic intent and executionability represents not just a visibility issue but operational challenges as well. Check Point’s newly announced Agentic Network Security Orchestration Platform moves security teams towards operational levels based on business intent, enabling AI agents to autonomously formulate policies, reinforce zero trust, and ensure compliance across hybrid environments.

The full version of the 2026 Cloud Security Report, titled "2026 Cloud Security Report: Securing the AI Transformation," can be downloaded from Check Point's official website. Check Point Software Technologies is dedicated to protecting organizations undergoing secure AI transformations, utilizing a prevention-first approach and open ecosystem architecture to reduce risks, simplify operations, and empower confident innovation.

With a robust integrated security architecture that adapts to evolving threats and expanding AI attack surfaces, Check Point ensures consistent protection and visibility across hybrid networks, cloud environments, digital workspaces, and AI systems. Through strategic pillars—Hybrid Mesh Network Security, Workspace Security, Exposure Management, and AI Security—Check Point provides comprehensive protection in complex multi-vendor environments.