AI-driven cyberattacks rose sharply over the past year, with more than one in four organisations reporting malicious incidents linked to artificial intelligence, according to IBM.
In its 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report, technology firm IBM found that AI-enabled attacks increased 56 per cent year-on-year and now carry a markedly higher price tag. The average cost of a breach that involved AI was $6.04 million—about $1 million more than breaches where AI was not a factor, the report said.
IBM researchers said attackers are using generative AI to automate reconnaissance, craft convincing social‑engineering content and scale operations, which shortens the time required to find and exploit vulnerabilities and raises the potential financial impact on victims.
Deepfake impersonation was the most common AI-driven tactic, accounting for 45 per cent of incidents identified in the study.
AI-generated malware made up 19 per cent, while AI-assisted phishing and other deceptive communications were 17 per cent.
“Attackers are abandoning human speed for machine speed,” IBM said, noting that generative AI has lowered the time, cost and skill barriers for producing realistic fraudulent content.
Businesses’ AI deployments themselves are increasingly targeted.
The report found 21 per cent of organisations experienced a security incident involving an AI model or application, up from 13 per cent a year earlier.
The most costly AI‑related incidents were model inversion—where attackers extract sensitive data from a model—which averaged $6.07 million, and prompt injection attacks, which averaged $5.89 million. IBM warned these vulnerabilities are significant as AI systems become more tightly integrated with corporate databases and workflows.
Expect higher financial and reputational risk where AI is in use without strong controls.
Firms should prioritise protecting AI models and supply chains, hardening data access, and improving detection of AI-assisted deception.
Investments in staff training, multi-factor authentication, robust logging, and AI-specific threat assessments can reduce exposure.
For Nigerian and regional businesses—many of which are digitising rapidly—IBM’s findings underscore the need to pair digital transformation with targeted cybersecurity measures that account for the new threats AI introduces.
