ASEAN Data Breach Costs Hit a Record US$4.12 Million: What IBM's 2026 Report Says

The average cost of a data breach for organisations in ASEAN was US$4.12 million in 2026, the highest level recorded, in IBM's 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report, released on 11 August. That's up from US$3.67 million in 2025. The regional figure rests on 26 organisations studied between March 2025 and February 2026, out of 602 in the whole study.

Finance pays the most

Financial services had the region's highest average breach cost, US$6.53 million, followed by industrial organisations at US$5.99 million and communications at US$4.28 million.

Stolen logins and unencrypted data

Breaches that started with stolen or misused logins, which IBM calls abusing valid accounts, averaged more than US$4.5 million in ASEAN.

Only 29% of the ASEAN organisations surveyed said their sensitive data was encrypted both at rest and in transit when the breach happened, against 37% of breached organisations worldwide.

AI on both sides

Of the ASEAN organisations hit by a malicious breach, 29% said the attacks were AI-generated.

Organisations that used AI and security automation extensively in their own defences averaged US$3.66 million per breach, against US$4.86 million for those that didn't use them at all. They also identified and contained breaches 123 days faster.