Data breach costs jump in SE Asia

MANILA, Philippines — Costs incurred by businesses across Southeast Asia due to data breaches reached a record high in 2026, as increasingly sophisticated attacks set back organizations by about $4.12 million, according to a new IBM study.

In its 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report, IBM said the latest figure marked a 12-percent increase from the $3.67-million average cost in 2025 and was the ninth-highest average across the 16 countries and regions it had surveyed.

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Globally, the average cost of a data breach likewise rose to a record $4.99 million, up 12 percent from a year ago, led by businesses in the United States, where costs averaged $11.5 million in 2026.

IBM attributed the increase partly to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), which has made cyberattacks cheaper and faster to carry out, even as it noted that the same technology could be crucial in detecting and containing breaches.

“As AI continues to lower the cost and increase the speed of cyberattacks, organizations across Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) are facing longer breach investigations and growing financial consequences,” said IBM Asean general manager Catherine Lian.

IBM’s Asean findings were based on data from 26 organizations in the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

According to the study, Southeast Asian businesses in financial services incurred the highest average breach costs at $6.53 million, followed by industrial organizations at $5.99 million and communications firms at $4.28 million.

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By comparison, healthcare was the “most expensive industry” for data breaches globally, averaging costs of $6.64 million in the latest report.

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To combat rising cyber threats, Asean organizations have increasingly turned to AI and automation, IBM said.

Organizations that extensively used AI and security automation reported a lower average breach cost of $3.66 million, compared with $4.86 million among those that did not use these tools. They also identified and contained breaches 123 days faster.

“The report findings underscore the value of AI and automation in cybersecurity,” Lian said. “Organizations that have integrated these technologies into their security operations are containing breaches faster and reducing associated costs.”

IBM said the rise of AI-enabled cyber threats is also pushing businesses to spend more on cybersecurity.

Nearly three in four organizations in the region said they planned to increase investments in security tools and governance following a breach. Meanwhile, a separate global study by the Ponemon Institute found that 85 percent of organizations aware of advanced AI cyber capabilities also planned to increase security spending.

IBM’s report was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and covered 602 organizations across 16 countries and regions and 17 industries. INQ