Excerpt from Express Computer Article, Published on August 7, 2025
India has recorded the highest average data breach cost globally in 2025, with the India data breach cost reaching an all-time high of INR 220 million, marking a 13% increase from the previous year’s INR 195 million. This finding is part of IBM’s annual Cost of a Data Breach Report released recently, which highlights growing cybersecurity challenges faced by Indian organizations amid accelerating AI adoption.
The report revealed phishing attacks remain the leading attack vector in India, accounting for 18% of breaches, followed closely by third-party vendor and supply chain compromises at 17%, and vulnerability exploits at 13%. Despite the rapid increase in AI integration across businesses, nearly 60% of breached Indian organizations lack formal AI governance policies or are still developing them, contributing significantly to the heightened data breach costs.
Shadow AI — the use of AI tools without IT oversight — was identified as one of the top three cost drivers, adding an average of INR 17.9 million to data breach expenses. The report also noted only 37% of Indian organizations have implemented AI access controls, underscoring a gap in security readiness despite the evident risks.
Industries most affected include the research sector, which faced average breach costs of INR 289 million, followed by transportation at INR 288 million and the industrial sector at INR 264 million. The average breach lifecycle in India improved slightly to 263 days, a reduction of 15 days from 2024, indicating faster detection and containment efforts.
The rising India data breach cost and vulnerabilities tied to AI underscore the urgent need for enterprises to strengthen cybersecurity measures, enhance employee awareness on phishing, and implement strong AI governance and access controls to mitigate future risks effectively.
To delve deeper into this topic, read the original Express Computer article.
