IBM (NYSE: IBM) released its 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report, revealing that the average cost of a data breach for organizations in the Middle East reached $8 million. According to the study, the three leading factors increasing the cost of data breaches for Middle East businesses were mismanaged secrets and keys, excessive privileges and poor role management, and an inability to prioritize threats. By contrast, encryption, a DevSecOps approach and endpoint detection and response tools were the leading factors associated with lower breach costs. Among malicious breaches, 26% ...