IBM Report: AI Cyberattacks Surge 56% Year-Over-Year, One-Quarter of Malicious Intrusion Incidents Facilitated by AI

According to Yonhap News, IBM released the "2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report" on July 30. The report indicates that 25% of global malicious cyber infringement incidents were executed with the assistance of AI, representing a 56% increase compared to the previous year. Primary attack methods include deepfake impersonation and AI-driven malicious code. The average loss from AI-related infringement incidents reached $6 million, approximately $1 million higher than the average loss of all incidents, which stood at $4.99 million. Notably, 62% of AI attacks are concentrated in the critical infrastructure sector. The average loss for the financial services industry is $6.3 million, while for the energy industry, it is $5.2 million. On the defense side, enterprises that actively implement AI and automated security operations can save approximately $2 million in losses on average. 85% of enterprises stated they plan to increase security investment to address new-generation AI threats.