One in four malicious data breaches recorded in 2026 involved artificial intelligence, a 56 percent increase over the prior year, according to IBM's Cost of a Data Breach Report. Those AI-enabled breaches carried an average cost of $6 million, roughly $1 million above the global average across all breach types.

The global average cost of a data breach reached a record $4.99 million in 2026, a 12 percent increase year over year. United States breaches averaged $11.5 million, more than double the global figure.

Deepfake impersonation and AI-generated malware account for the majority of AI-enabled attack methods documented in the report. Both categories reduce the cost and skill threshold for attacks that previously required significant manual effort, particularly social engineering targeted at finance and help desk functions.

Internal AI use produced a parallel exposure. Shadow AI incidents, defined as security events involving AI applications used by employees without organizational approval, more than doubled to 43 percent of security incidents in 2026 from 20 percent the prior year.

Defensive application of the same technology moved costs in the opposite direction. Organizations reporting the use of AI and automation within security operations cut average breach costs by nearly $2 million. One in four organizations has not adopted those tools in security operations.

Source: IBM - https://newsroom.ibm.com/2026-07-29-ibm-study-one-in-four-malicious-breaches-are-ai-enabled,-costing-companies-6-million-on-average