IBM's Cost of a Data Breach Report 2026, based on research by the Ponemon Institute, found that nearly every AI security incident involved companies with insufficient access controls. The report, which analyzed data from 602 companies, revealed that 92% of firms affected by AI-related breaches lacked basic access controls. The findings highlight a critical gap in security practices across organizations using AI technologies.
The report indicates that the majority of AI security incidents originated from vulnerabilities in APIs, connected applications, or misconfigured cloud services, rather than flaws in the AI models themselves. In about one in five affected companies, these misconfigurations or weaknesses served as the entry point for attackers. IBM emphasized that these gaps often stem from simple oversights rather than complex vulnerabilities requiring advanced exploitation techniques.
IBM noted that incidents involving AI systems cost an average of $5.33 million, compared to $4.70 million for breaches without AI components. The global average cost of all data breaches rose 12% to $4.99 million in 2026. When attackers used AI to carry out breaches, the average cost increased to $6.04 million, while incidents without AI components averaged $5.03 million.
Source: thedecoder
