IBM and the Ponemon Institute published the 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report in July 2025, documenting the first decline in global breach costs in five years even as AI-related exposures emerged as a major new cost driver. The global average breach cost fell 9% to $4.44 million, down from $4.88 million the year prior, with the report attributing the drop to faster identification and containment, a mean time of 241 days that is the lowest in nine years. The U.S. average, by contrast, climbed to a record $10.22 million, and healthcare remained the costliest industry at $7.42 million for the fifteenth consecutive year. Intellectual-property records were the most expensive data type at $178 per record. The headline AI finding was a pronounced governance gap: 97% of organizations that suffered an AI-related security incident lacked proper AI access controls, and 63% of the 600 organizations Ponemon surveyed had no AI governance policies at all. Heavy use of shadow AI added roughly $670,000 to the average breach cost, while extensive use of AI and automation in defense saved about $1.9 million per incident. Thirteen percent of organizations reported attacks that directly impacted their AI models or applications, a baseline the report frames as likely to grow sharply over the following twelve months.

Sources

• -https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
• -https://www.ibm.com/think/x-force/2025-cost-of-a-data-breach-navigating-ai