Report: One-Quarter of Breaches Are Enabled by AI-Driven Attacks

An IBM-commissioned study finds that 25% of breaches are AI-enabled (up 56% year-over-year), disproportionately targeting critical infrastructure—especially financial services and energy—and costing an average of $6M per AI-enabled breach. Attackers increasingly leverage deepfake impersonations, voice/SMS phishing (17%), social-engineering/impersonation of help-desk staff (13%), valid account abuse, and even removable media (~10%), with AI accelerating attack speed, scale, and downstream business impact.