AI-Driven Cyberattacks Drive Record Data Breach Costs to $5 Million

The cost of a data breach has hit a record high of nearly $5 million on average, according to IBM's Cost of a Data Breach Report. This represents a 12% increase from last year's study, with AI-driven attacks rising by 56%. The report found that organizations using AI are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks, with 92% lacking proper AI-access controls.

The healthcare industry bears the brunt of the highest average data breach costs at around $6.4 million, a figure down from last year's $7.4 million. The financial services and energy industries also face significant losses, averaging $6.3 million and $5.2 million respectively. Malicious or criminal attacks accounted for 55% of all data breaches, up almost 8% from the previous year.

IBM notes that the rising threat landscape is due in part to the 'economics' of cyberattacks being altered by AI, which makes attacks faster and cheaper while increasing breach costs. The company advises organizations to prioritize remediation into development workflows and secure identity at runtime to mitigate these risks.