Data security has become a cornerstone of business strategy, not just a compliance requirement. With the explosion of digital transformation initiatives, organizations are generating, collecting and moving more data than ever before. However, this growing reliance on data has exposed organizations to unprecedented risks. Compounding this issue are increasingly strict regulations that hold companies accountable for how they manage and secure sensitive information.

Let’s take a closer look at the current state of data security in 2025, the challenges organizations face and the innovative solutions that are helping businesses tackle these issues head-on.

[CTA_MODULE]

The current state of data security

To better understand the urgency to safeguard data, let’s consider a few statistics:

• The cost of data breaches is skyrocketing. In 2023, the global average cost of a data breach hit $4.45 million — a 15% increase over three years.
• Bad data is an expensive problem. Poor data quality costs organizations an average of $13 million annually.
• Compliance requirements are more stringent than ever. Regulations like GDPR, CCPA and industry-specific standards demand airtight data governance, making compliance a top priority.

It’s clear that organizations must not only secure their data but also ensure it’s handled in a compliant and efficient manner. In 2025, ensuring data security isn’t just about preventing breaches; it’s about building trust with customers, maintaining business continuity and safeguarding a company’s future. It’s a tall order, yet many traditional approaches to securing data are ill-equipped to meet these demands.

Why current solutions fall short

As organizations scale and adopt modernized data infrastructures, the process of managing data pipelines has become increasingly challenging. Many of the tools and methods used to move data securely are outdated, cumbersome and struggle to keep pace with changing security demands, creating significant risks and inefficiencies.

Legacy ETL

Many legacy ETL (extract, transform, load) systems are not built for today’s fast-paced, data-rich environments. They often rely on manual, engineering-led technologies that are expensive, resource-heavy and require significant maintenance, making them a poor fit for businesses striving for scalability and agility.

Care.com, a caregiver solutions marketplace, faced challenges with data security and governance, primarily due to its reliance on legacy and homegrown solutions — which were labor-intensive and couldn’t keep up with the volume of data generated by Care.com’s international platform. Reporting was only available once a day, and the company struggled to democratize their data while maintaining security and compliance.

After implementing Fivetran, Care.com now generates intra-hour performance reports, allowing for faster analysis. Fivetran’s advanced access control and security features also allowed Care.com to democratize data access, empowering business users across departments without compromising security. The result was a more efficient, scalable data infrastructure that not only saved engineering hours but also provided timely insights for decision-makers throughout the organization.

DIY data ingestion

Many organizations resort to building data pipelines in-house, but this approach often creates more problems than it solves. DIY pipelines are costly, lack governance and suffer from fragmented ownership. Maintaining these systems can drain engineering resources, leaving teams stretched thin. For example:

• Data engineers spend 44% of their time building and maintaining pipelines. This costs companies an average of $520,000 per year.
• Fragmented pipelines introduce risk. Mismanagement can lead to data quality issues, security vulnerabilities and compliance gaps.

When sensitive data is involved, the stakes are even higher. A single misconfiguration or unpatched system can expose an organization to significant financial and operational risks.

Data pipelines as a growing risk

Data pipelines often handle sensitive, mission-critical information. Yet, because they operate behind the scenes, they tend to receive less scrutiny than customer-facing systems. Internally developed pipelines, in particular, are vulnerable to security risks such as:

• Hardcoded credentials and misconfigurations, such as the 2.4TB data leak at Microsoft in 2022
• Unpatched software that makes up 60% of data breaches
• Shadow IT systems that bypass security protocols, consuming 30-40% of enterprise IT budgets

Limited visibility for security teams

Many pipelines lack proper visibility and governance, leaving security teams blind to potential vulnerabilities. Additionally, regulations or internal policies often prevent certain types of data from being processed by third parties or leaving the company’s environment, further complicating the situation.

The result? A patchwork of systems that fails to provide the level of control, security and compliance enterprises need. However, a modern approach to data integration is paving the way for a new generation of solutions — ones that don’t just mitigate risks but also empower businesses to securely and efficiently scale their data operations.

This is where Fivetran’s Hybrid Deployment stands out, offering a modern, secure and flexible approach to data movement tailored for today’s most complex environments.

Secure, scale and simplify data with Fivetran’s Hybrid Deployment

Fivetran’s Hybrid Deployment offers a cutting-edge solution for organizations looking to secure their data pipelines without sacrificing data integration efficiency or scalability.

Full control and security

With Hybrid Deployment, organizations maintain complete control over their sensitive data by hosting pipelines in their own environment while implementing, maintaining and updating the pipelines using  Fivetran’s managed platform capabilities. This ensures that businesses can meet compliance and security requirements without compromising on performance. Your team gets self-hosted pipelines, while Fivetran’s team of engineers and support agents ensure the pipelines remain performant and always-on.

Seamless management

Enterprise teams can centrally manage both cloud-based and on-premises pipelines from a single, unified platform. This simplifies monitoring and maintenance, freeing up resources for more strategic initiatives.

Flexibility and simplicity

Fivetran’s Hybrid Deployment allows organizations to choose whether their pipelines are processed within Fivetran’s secure network or their own environment. The platform’s intuitive interface, built-in governance features, and world-class support make implementation a breeze.

Westley Innocenti, Manager of Data Analytics at Heritage Environmental Services, shares how Fivetran’s Hybrid Deployment transformed their operations:

“As a lean data team handling sensitive data while also preparing for significant growth and acquisitions, Fivetran’s Hybrid Deployment has been a game-changer. With Fivetran’s seamless support, we spun up a VM and integrated their tool with minimal developer time. Since deployment, we've enjoyed flawless data consistency and timely insights, all while maintaining full control of our infrastructure with little to no maintenance. Fivetran has not only streamlined our operations but also positioned us to scale confidently in a dynamic, data-driven future.”
— Westley Innocenti, Manager of Data Analytics at Heritage Environmental Services

As organizations face mounting data risks and challenges, solutions like Fivetran’s Hybrid Deployment offer a path forward. By combining robust security, seamless management, and unparalleled flexibility, Fivetran empowers businesses to secure their data pipelines while driving efficiency and growth.

[CTA_MODULE]