AI cyberattacks make software vulnerabilities the top breach trigger, Verizon Data Breach Report warns

Mobile phishing attacks are now outperforming email scams

AI-driven hackers exploit vulnerabilities faster than companies secure their systems * AI-powered hackers now exploit software flaws faster than companies can patch systems * Mobile phishing scams now outperform traditional email attacks across corporate environments worldwide * Unauthorized AI tools are quietly leaking sensitive company information across global workplaces For the first time in nearly two decades, exploiting software vulnerabilities has overtaken stolen passwords as the primary way hackers breach corporate networks. Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report claims the exploitation of vulnerabilities now accounts for 31% of all confirmed data breaches. Stolen credentials, once the dominant entry point, have dropped to just 13% of reported incidents this year. Vulnerability exploitation has become the number one threat The report analyzed over 31,000 security incidents across 145 countries, revealing how the threat landscape has fundamentally shifted. Attackers are leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery and weaponization of known software flaws, which dramatically shrinks the window available for defenders to patch their systems, reducing response time from months to mere hours. Despite this growing risk, the report found that only 26% of critical vulnerabilities were fully remediated throughout 2025. The median time organizations took to apply patches jumped to 43 days, leaving networks exposed for weeks or even months. "While the velocity of cyber threats driven by AI is increasing, the foundational principles of security remain the most effective defense," said Daniel Lawson, SVP of Global Solutions at Verizon Business. Ransomware was present in nearly half of all breaches, at 48%, up from 44% the previous year. However, the report noted that ransom payments have declined, with 69% of victims refusing to pay. Mobile devices have become a more dangerous attack vector than email, with phishing simulations showing that text messages and voice calls achieve 40% higher click rates than traditional email phishing. The human element was still involved in 62% of all breaches, as attackers increasingly target mobile-centric communication channels where users are less suspicious. AI tools create weak points for organizations Nearly half of all employees, or 45%, now use AI tools at work, representing a significant increase from just 15% the previous year. But 67% of these workers access artificial intelligence platforms through unauthorized personal accounts rather than approved corporate channels. Shadow AI has become the third most common cause of non-malicious data leakage, putting company secrets at significant risk of unintended exposure. Supply chain attacks have also grown substantially, with third-party involvement in breaches increasing by 60% year-over-year. The DBIR makes it clear that attackers have shifted their tactics, and most organizations have not kept pace with the speed of modern threat actors. The fundamentals of security and the use of firewalls or malware removal tools still work, but they only work when organizations actually practice them consistently. Organizations are advised to patch faster, monitor mobile channels, control AI usage, and assume that third parties will eventually be compromised. The attackers are already acting on that assumption, and the DBIR numbers prove they are right more often than they are wrong. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

Verizon Report Warns of AI-Fueled Social Engineering Surge | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. That is one of the central findings in Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report, which analyzed more than 31,000 real-world security incidents, including more than 22,000 confirmed data breaches across 145 countries. The report found that threat actors are using generative AI across different stages of attacks, including targeting, initial access, vulnerability research, malware development and other tooling. The finding does not mean every scam is suddenly new. Verizon's report argues that AI is, for now, mostly making familiar attacks faster, cheaper and more scalable. In the median case, threat actors researched or used AI assistance in 15 documented techniques, while some used it across 40 or 50 techniques. Most AI-assisted malware and tooling was tied to already known attack methods, while less than 2.5% involved less common techniques. That makes the threat practical for banks, payments companies and digital commerce firms. AI can help a less sophisticated criminal write better phishing messages, automate parts of reconnaissance, test targets faster or impersonate trusted contacts more convincingly. Verizon also found that the human element was present in 62% of breaches, while social engineering represented 16% of all breaches. Phone-centric tactics, including voice and text-message attacks, are becoming more effective, with simulated mobile-centric attacks producing median click rates 40% higher than email. The broader fraud picture is not limited to AI. Exploitation of vulnerabilities became the most common initial access vector for breaches, rising to 31%, while credential abuse fell to 13%. Ransomware appeared in 48% of breaches, up from 44% the prior year, although 69% of ransomware victims did not pay. Third-party involvement also rose sharply, reaching 48% of total breaches. The implication is that companies do not need to throw out their security playbooks, but they do need to speed them up. Verizon put it this way: "AI's primary impact is currently operational: automating and scaling techniques defenders already know how to detect, not yet unlocking these novel or rare attack surfaces." For financial services firms, that means the AI fraud challenge is not only about exotic deepfakes or autonomous hackers. It is about more-convincing scams, more pressure on help desks, more attacks against mobile channels and more criminals using automation to find weak spots before defenders close them.

AI-Driven Cyberattacks Make Software Flaws Top Breach Trigger, Verizon Survey Warns

Verizon's latest breach report shows AI-powered cyberattacks have made vulnerability exploitation the leading cause of data breaches, overtaking stolen credentials as attackers automate reconnaissance, phishing and malware deployment at unprecedented speed. Software vulnerability exploitation has become the leading cause of data breaches for the first time, driven by cybercriminals' rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools, according to Verizon's latest survey via an extensive Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). The survey report found that 31% of breaches now originate from attackers exploiting software flaws, overtaking stolen credentials as the most common entry point into corporate systems.

AI-related data breaches surpass stolen credentials in cyber incidents, Verizon report says

WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - AI-detected vulnerabilities surpassed incidents of stolen credentials in data breaches last year, according to an annual report from Verizon relating to industry security incidents. Verizon said in a review of more than 31,000 incidents that 31% of all breaches started with vulnerability exploitation in an AI world. It warned that AI was being used by threat actors "to accelerate the time to exploit known vulnerabilities, shrinking the window for defense from months to mere hours." The annual report that reviews a wide range of industry data shows hackers are using generative AI to help at all stages of attacks "including targeting, initial access, and development of malware and other tools." The report said AI's primary impact "is currently operational: automating and scaling techniques defenders already know how to detect, not yet unlocking these novel or rare attack surfaces." But it added that assessment might be obsolete as AI continues to advance rapidly. The report said threat actors typically researched or used AI assistance in 15 different techniques, with some using as many as 50. The report does not cover data from Mythos, a new AI model that has raised widespread cybersecurity concerns. Mythos, ?announced on April 7, is being deployed as part of Anthropic's "Project Glasswing," a controlled initiative under which select organizations are permitted to use the unreleased Claude Mythos Preview model for defensive cybersecurity purposes, including Verizon. Mythos' skill in coding at a high level has given it a potentially unprecedented ability to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities and devise ways to exploit them, according to experts. Verizon chief information security officer Nasrin Rezai said it was critical to address the growing threats. "We need to fight AI with AI. We need to incorporate them into our practices," Rezai told Reuters. "We need to bring them into our software development life cycle, in our testing processes, in our cyber defense processes at a scale that we have never done before." (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Hugh Lawson)