The average cost of a data breach has increased rapidly over the years, causing greater financial damage to companies than ever before.

Despite significant investments in security technologies and solutions to prevent cybercrime, the average cost of data breaches has increased by more than $1 million over the past six years and will reach a whopping $4.88 million in 2024.

However, this number varies considerably depending on the country and industry in which the breach occurred and whether the company has used artificial intelligence (AI) and automation for security to detect breaches and reduce costs.

According to data from AltIndex.com, companies that used AI and automation in security saw lower average data breach costs of $1.8 million in 2024.

The cost of not using security AI and automation

Artificial intelligence and automation have transformed the world of cybersecurity, making it easier for cybercriminals to launch attacks and for defenders to identify threats and automate responses.

However, these technologies have also significantly reduced the average cost of data breaches, saving companies and organizations that regularly use them millions of dollars. According to the Ponemon Institute’s recent Cost of Data Breach Report, the difference between the average cost of data breaches in a company that uses AI security and one that doesn’t is glaring.

Statistics show that companies that did not use AI and automation for security incurred average data breach costs of $5.72 million in 2024, compared to $5.36 million the previous year. On the other hand, companies that used AI and automation on a large scale had 31% lower costs of $3.84 million, saving more than $1.8 million per single data breach.

Even the limited use of AI and automation in cyber threat detection made a huge difference, reducing the average cost of a breach by $1 million.

AI and automation in cyber threat detection not only result in lower data breach costs, but also significantly faster response times. Statistics show that companies and organizations that use these technologies detect and contain data breaches nearly 100 days faster than companies that do not.

More and more companies are using AI to prevent data theft

Overall, leveraging AI and machine learning insights was the second most important factor in reducing data breach costs, just after employee training, which remains an essential element of cyber defense strategies, especially in detecting and preventing phishing attacks.

The Cost of Data Breach Report 2024 also showed that the number of organizations using AI security and automation on a large scale has increased. In 2024, 31% of organizations used these technologies to prevent and identify a breach, up 3% from the previous year. The proportion of those using AI and automation on a limited scale also increased from 33% in 2023 to 36% in 2024.

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