2026 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report: What Executive Leaders Need To Know

For years, cybersecurity advice focused on protecting passwords and training employees to recognize phishing emails. While those remain important, the 2026 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report ("DBIR") identifies a significant shift in how organizations are being compromised.

For the first time in the report's 19-year history, the most common way attackers gain initial access is by exploiting known software vulnerabilities, rather than by stealing usernames and passwords. Approximately 31% of analyzed breaches began with the exploitation of software vulnerabilities, surpassing credential theft as the leading method of intrusion.

The message for business leaders is straightforward: cybercriminals are increasingly targeting organizations that are slow to fix known weaknesses in their technology, and advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are allowing attackers to find and exploit those weaknesses much faster than in the past.