$8 Million: Average Cost of Data Breach in Middle East Hits New High
A new report from IBM reveals that the average cost of a data breach for organizations in the Middle East reached $8 million in 2026. The study found that among malicious breaches, 26% were AI-enabled, while another 11% of respondents were unable to confirm whether attackers had leveraged AI.
Organizations with extensive use of AI and security automation recorded average breach costs more than $3 million lower than those that did not use these capabilities. However, 23% of organizations had still not adopted them.
The report also highlights the significant financial strain caused by data breaches across the entire breach lifecycle, from discovery to containment. The largest cost category was lost business, averaging $3.57 million per breach, followed by post-breach response costs at $2.17 million and detection and escalation at $1.9 million.
The financial and technology sectors recorded the highest average breach costs, at $10.67 million each, followed by the industrial sector at $9.6 million. Saad Toma, General Manager of IBM Middle East and Africa, said that 'As the number of cybercriminals harnessing the power of AI for malicious purposes rises, attacks are becoming faster and cheaper to launch, while breaches keep getting more expensive to find and fix.'