IBM released its 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report, revealing that the average cost of a data breach for organisations in the Middle East reached $8 million.

According to the study, among malicious breaches, 26 percent were AI-enabled, while another 11 percent of respondents were unable to confirm whether attackers had leveraged AI.

Organisations with extensive use of AI and security automation recorded average breach costs more than US$3 million lower than organisations that did not use these capabilities, although 23 percent had still not adopted them.

Lost business remained the largest cost category in the region in 2026, averaging US$3.57 million per breach. This was followed by post-breach response costs at US$2.17 million, detection and escalation at US$1.9 million, and notification at US$360,000.

These figures underscore the continued financial strain organisations face across the entire breach lifecycle, from discovery to containment.

The financial and technology sectors recorded the highest average breach costs, at US$10.67 million each, followed by the industrial sector at US$9.6 million.

Saad Toma, General Manager of IBM Middle East and Africa, said, “As the number of cybercriminals harnessing the power of AI for malicious purposes rises, attacks are becoming faster and cheaper to launch, while breaches keep getting more expensive to find and fix. This growing imbalance is fundamentally changing the economics of cyber risk. Companies must invest in advanced threat detection and response technologies using AI and automation to stay ahead of emerging risks.”