Data breach incidents soar

And will likely continue to do so, thanks to artificial "intelligence."

The Identity Theft Resource Center tracked 1,803 data compromises in the first half of 2026, putting the year on pace to surpass the record 3,321 incidents recorded in all of 2025. That figure outpaces the 297.5 million victim notices the ITRC recorded across all of 2025…

The surge comes as artificial intelligence is making attacks easier to execute. One in four malicious breaches between March 2025 and February 2026 were AI-enabled, a 56% increase over the prior year, according to an IBM $IBM +0.08% study based on 602 organizations globally. Those AI-enabled breaches — driven by deepfake impersonation and AI-enabled malware — cost companies an average of $6 million, roughly $1 million above the global breach average of $4.99 million. - Quartz