AI Is Making Data Breaches Both More Common and More Costly, IBM Finds

IBM's 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report shows AI-driven attacks jumped 56% this year, pushing the average breach past $4.99 million — though companies using AI defensively saved roughly $2 million per incident.

By THRYV Money Desk·Published August 16, 2026·Updated August 16, 2026·3 min read

AI Is Making Data Breaches Both More Common and More Costly, IBM Finds

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The takeaway

IBM's 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report finds AI-driven cyberattacks rose 56% year-over-year, pushing the average global breach cost to $4.99 million, up 12%. Companies using AI extensively in security operations saved about $2 million per breach versus those without it, showing the technology now cuts both ways for attackers and defenders alike.

The average cost of a data breach hit $4.99 million globally this year, up 12% from 2025, as artificial intelligence increasingly powers both sides of the cybersecurity fight, according to IBM's 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report, published August 4.

AI is supercharging attacks

IBM found that AI-driven cyberattacks rose 56% year-over-year, with attackers using the technology to make intrusions faster, cheaper, more convincing and harder to detect — from AI-generated phishing lures to automated reconnaissance of corporate networks.

But it's also cutting breach costs — for some

Organizations that made extensive use of AI and automation in their security operations saved roughly $2 million per breach compared with organizations that didn't, the report found, largely through faster detection and containment.

The takeaway

IBM frames 2026 as a cybersecurity paradox: the same technology lowering the barrier to sophisticated attacks is also becoming one of the most effective tools for defending against them — meaning the gap between AI-equipped and AI-lagging organizations is likely to widen.

Why it matters beyond IT departments

Rising breach costs tend to filter down to consumers through higher prices, more frequent data-breach notifications and, in the aftermath of a hack, longer waits for credit-monitoring and identity-protection remedies. Businesses evaluating vendors or cloud providers increasingly ask about AI-assisted security posture as part of due diligence.

Sources

This article is original writing by THRYV. We link to primary reporting and official documents rather than reproducing them.

IBM 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report: AI-Driven Attacks Up 56% — Techloy

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