IBM publishes Cost of a Data Breach Report 2026

In its 21st annual Cost of a Data Breach Report, IBM Security reveals that the global average cost of a data breach rose 12% over the past year to a record $4.99 million. The increase was largely driven by rising detection, escalation, and lost-business costs, with research based on studies of 602 breached organisations between March 2025 and February 2026.

A primary driver of these rising costs is a 56% increase in AI-driven attacks, which added an average of $1 million per breach by enabling cybercriminals to scale operations and accelerate attack velocity. While deploying AI and automation saved security teams an average of $1.93 million, adoption remains uneven. Furthermore, 92% of organisations reporting an AI-related breach lacked proper access controls for AI models and data, and fewer than half adequately secured non-human identities within AI workflows.

Ransomware incidents also increased, with threat actors shifting toward multi-layered extortion methods; 41% of breached organisations reported threats to brand reputation, making it the most common pressure tactic. In response to risks posed by frontier AI models, 85% of breached organisations plan to increase security spending and governance, with over half intending to invest specifically in AI security tools. 

Training Announcement: The BCS Practitioner Certificate in Information Risk Management (PCIRM) is an advanced-level programme for data specialists who actively monitor and minimise the risk of cyberattacks, information security incidents, and data protection violations. Find out more.