Organizations across ASEAN faced an average USD4.12 million cost per data breach in 2026, the highest level recorded, as cyberattacks become more sophisticated and increasingly use artificial intelligence, according to IBM’s 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report.
Nearly three in 10 ASEAN organizations that suffered malicious breaches said their attacks were AI-generated, highlighting how artificial intelligence is giving cybercriminals faster and potentially cheaper ways to exploit digital weaknesses.
The report also points to a growing cybersecurity paradox. While AI is helping attackers, organizations using AI and security automation extensively reported significantly lower breach costs, averaging USD 3.66 million compared with USD 4.86 million among those that did not use the technologies.
They also identified and contained breaches 123 days faster.
“As AI continues to lower the cost and increase the speed of cyberattacks, organizations across ASEAN are facing longer breach investigations and growing financial consequences,” said Catherine Lian, general manager of IBM ASEAN.
She said greater use of AI and automation could help organizations contain breaches faster and reduce financial losses.
Financial services recorded the region’s highest average breach cost at USD 6.53 million, followed by industrial organizations at USD 5.99 million and communications at USD 4.28 million. The figures underscore the exposure of sectors that operate critical infrastructure and handle large volumes of sensitive information.
Meanwhile, 71 percent of ASEAN organizations said they planned to increase investments in security tools and governance after experiencing a breach.
Identity-based attacks remained particularly costly. Breaches involving abused valid accounts averaged more than USD 4.5 million, while only 29 percent of organizations encrypted sensitive data both at rest and in transit when breaches occurred.
The ASEAN findings covered 26 organizations studied from March 2025 to February 2026. The report was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored and analyzed by IBM.
