IBM Study: One in Four Malicious Breaches Are AI-Enabled, Costing Companies $6 Million on Average
IBM, Wednesday, July 29th, 2026
IBM's annual breach research finds a quarter of malicious breaches now involve AI, averaging $6 million in cost.
IBM published research finding that one in four malicious breaches are now AI-enabled, with an average cost of $6 million to the affected company.
More than 20% of organizations surveyed reported a breach specifically targeting AI models or applications rather than merely using AI in the attack. The findings mark AI moving from a projected risk into measured breach data.
IBM covers which attack stages AI most often supports and where the cost differential comes from. The study is IBM's annual breach cost research, widely used as an industry benchmark.