The Unstructured Data Blindspot: Why Your Most Valuable Assets Are Your Least Protected

When 90% of enterprise data is expected to be unstructured within the next five years, and the NAS market is projected to reach $116 billion by 2032, a dangerous perception gap persists. Many organizations do not view their unstructured data as high-risk or mission-critical, even as it contains their most sensitive information and represents their largest attack surface.

From file systems and NAS platforms to object stores across on-prem and cloud environments, unstructured data continues to grow in scale and complexity. At the same time, ransomware, data exposure, and regulatory pressure are increasing, while security and IT teams struggle with limited visibility and the practical challenges of operating at a petabyte scale.

In this IDC-led discussion, Jennifer Glenn of IDC Research and Jeff Hughes of Rubrik examine why unstructured data has become a persistent blind spot for CIOs and senior IT leaders. The session focuses on market trends, real-world risk patterns, and the operational realities that prevent organizations from effectively assessing and reducing unstructured data risk.

This session will explore:

• Why unstructured data is often overlooked despite its growing risk and business impact
• How scale and lack of visibility amplify ransomware and data exposure risk
• Why do many organizations delay action even when risks are well understood
• What changes when organizations can see and act on unstructured data at scale