IBM today released its annual Cost of a Data Breach (CODB) report, revealing global and regional trends related to the increasing costs of data breaches in an increasingly sophisticated and disruptive cyber threat landscape. The 2025 report explores the growing role of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) in mitigating breach costs and, for the first time, examined the state of AI security and governance.
The report indicated that the average cost of a data breach in Brazil reached R$7.19 million, while in 2024 the cost was R$6.75 million, a 6.5% increase, marking additional pressure on cybersecurity teams facing highly complex challenges. Sectors such as Healthcare, Finance, and Services led the list of the most impacted, recording average costs of R$11.43 million, R$8.92 million, and R$8.51 million, respectively.
In the country, organizations that extensively adopt secure AI and automation reported average costs of R$6.48 million, while those with limited implementation showed costs of R$6.76 million. For companies that do not yet use these technologies, the average cost rose to R$8.78 million, highlighting the advantages of AI in strengthening cybersecurity.
In addition to assessing the factors driving up costs, the 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report analyzed elements that can reduce the financial impacts of a data breach. Among the most effective initiatives are the implementation of threat intelligence (which reduced costs by an average of R$655,110) and the use of AI governance technology (R$629,850). Despite this significant cost reduction, the report found that only 29% of the organizations studied in Brazil use AI governance technology to mitigate risks associated with attacks on AI models. Overall, AI governance and security are being widely ignored, with 87% of organizations in Brazil reporting no AI governance policies in place and 61% lacking AI access controls.
“Our study shows there is already a concerning gap between the rapid adoption of AI and the lack of adequate governance and security, and bad actors are exploiting this void. The absence of access controls for AI models exposed sensitive data and increased organizational vulnerability. Companies underestimating these risks are not only putting critical information at risk but also compromising trust across the entire operation,” explains Fernando Carbone, Security Services Partner at IBM Consulting Latin America.
Factors contributing to increased data breach costs
Security system complexity contributed, on average, to an increase of R$725,359 in the total breach cost.
The study also showed that unauthorized use of AI tools (shadow AI) resulted in an average increase of R$591,400 in costs. And the adoption of AI tools (internal or public), despite their benefits, added an average cost of R$578,850 to data breaches.
The report also identified the most frequent root causes of data breaches in Brazil. Phishing stood out as the top threat vector, accounting for 18% of breaches, resulting in an average cost of R$7.18 million. Other significant causes include third-party and supply chain compromise (15%, with an average cost of R$8.98 million) and vulnerability exploitation (13%, with an average cost of R$7.61 million). Compromised credentials, internal (accidental) errors, and malicious insiders were also reported as causes of breaches, demonstrating the broad range of challenges organizations face in data protection.
Other global findings from the 2025 Cost of a Data Breach Report:
- 13% of organizations reported breaches involving AI models or applications, while 8% did not know if they had been compromised this way. Among compromised organizations, 97% reported no AI access controls in place.
- 63% of breached organizations lack an AI governance policy or are still developing one. Among those with policies, only 34% conduct regular audits to detect unauthorized AI use.
- One in five organizations reported a breach due to shadow AI, and only 37% have policies to manage or detect this technology. Organizations that used high levels of shadow AI saw an average of $670,000 more in breach costs compared to those with low or no hidden AI. Security incidents involving shadow AI led to more personal identifiable information (65%) and intellectual property (40%) being compromised compared to the global average (53% and 33%, respectively).
- 16% of the studied breaches involved hackers using AI tools, often for phishing or deepfake attacks.
The financial cost of a breach
- Data breach costs.The global average cost of a data breach fell to $4.44 million, the first decline in five years, while the average cost of a breach in the U.S. reached a record $10.22 million.
- Global breach lifecycle hits record time. The global average time to identify and contain a breach (including service restoration) dropped to 241 days, a 17-day reduction from the previous year, as more organizations detected the breach internally. Organizations that detected the breach internally also saved $900,000 in breach costs compared to those notified by an attacker.
- Healthcare breaches remain the most expensive.At an average of $7.42 million, healthcare sector breaches remained the costliest among all sectors studied, despite a $2.35 million cost reduction compared to 2024. Breaches in this sector take longer to identify and contain, averaging 279 days—over 5 weeks above the global average of 241 days.
- Ransom payment fatigue.Last year, organizations increasingly resisted ransom demands, with 63% choosing not to pay, compared to 59% the previous year. As more organizations refuse to pay ransoms, the average cost of a ransomware or extortion incident remains high, especially when disclosed by an attacker ($5.08 million).
- Post-breach price increases.The consequences of a breach continue to extend beyond containment. Although lower than the previous year, nearly half of all organizations reported plans to increase the price of goods or services due to the breach, and almost a third reported price increases of 15% or more.
- Security investment stagnation amid rising AI risks.There was a significant drop in the number of organizations reporting plans to invest in security post-breach: 49% in 2025, compared to 63% in 2024. Fewer than half of those planning post-breach security investments will focus on AI-based security solutions or services.
20 years of data breach costs
The report, conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by IBM, is the industry’s leading benchmark for understanding the financial impact of data breaches. The report analyzed the experiences of 600 global organizations between March 2024 and February 2025.
Over the past 20 years, the Cost of a Data Breach Report has investigated nearly 6,500 breaches worldwide. In 2005, the inaugural report found that almost half of all breaches (45%) originated from lost or stolen devices. Only 10% were due to hacked systems. Fast-forward to 2025, and the threat landscape has dramatically changed. Today, the threat landscape is predominantly digital and increasingly targeted, with breaches now driven by a spectrum of malicious activities.
A decade ago, cloud misconfiguration issues weren’t even monitored. Now, they are among the top breach vectors. Ransomware exploded during the 2020 lockdowns, with the average breach cost rising from $4.62 million in 2021 to $5.08 million in 2025.
To access the full report, visit IBM’s official website here.
