AI-Driven Breaches Cost $6M as Global Data Breach Average Hits $4.99M

The global average cost of a data breach reached $4.99 million in 2026, a 12% increase year over year, with US breaches averaging $11.5 million. AI-enabled attacks now account for over a quarter of breaches, costing $6.04 million on average, while organizations using AI defense saved $1.93 million per breach. The report also found that 92% of organizations lacked proper access controls on AI models, and shadow AI incidents more than doubled.