Data Breach Costs in India Hit Record Rs 25.5 Crore

The average cost of a data breach in India reached a record Rs 25.5 crore in 2026, representing a 15.9 percent increase from the Rs 22 crore average in 2025. According to the 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report by IBM, the average scale of these incidents grew to 39,500 compromised records per breach. The financial services industry bore the highest impact, facing average breach costs of Rs 40.9 crore.

AI-generated attacks now account for 26 percent of malicious breaches, although phishing remains the most frequent attack vector at 19 percent. The report highlights a significant cost gap based on technological readiness: organizations utilizing extensive AI and security automation incurred average costs of Rs 21.3 crore, while those lacking such tools paid Rs 31.6 crore.

In response to these trends, 73 percent of surveyed organizations intend to increase investments in security tools and governance. These priorities include identity management, threat detection, and incident response. Gaurav Agarwal, IBM Vice President for Technology in India and South Asia, stated that AI with agentic capabilities must be embedded across the full security lifecycle to build resilience and maintain a competitive advantage.