Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report reveals a fourfold increase in "shadow AI" use, with 67% of employees who regularly use AI at work doing so through unauthorized personal accounts, potentially exposing sensitive corporate data such as source code, documents, and proprietary research to unvetted third-party platforms. The report also highlights worsening vulnerability management, with remediation rates for critical flaws dropping from 38% to 26% and resolution times rising from 32 to 43 days, while ransomware featured in nearly half of all breaches. On a positive note, ransom payments continued to decline, with 69% of victims refusing to pay and the median payment falling slightly to just under $140,000.
