Forget stolen passwords — this is how hackers are actually breaking into US companies in 2026
- AI-powered hackers now exploit software flaws faster than companies can patch systems
- Mobile phishing scams now outperform traditional email attacks across corporate environments worldwide
- Unauthorized AI tools are quietly leaking sensitive company information across global workplaces
For the first time in nearly two decades, exploiting software vulnerabilities has overtaken stolen passwords as the primary way hackers breach corporate networks.
Verizon's 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report claims the exploitation of vulnerabilities now accounts for 31% of all confirmed data breaches.
Stolen credentials, once the dominant entry point, have dropped to just 13% of reported incidents this year.
Vulnerability exploitation has become the number one threat
The report analyzed over 31,000 security incidents across 145 countries, revealing how the threat landscape has fundamentally shifted.
Attackers are leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery and weaponization of known software flaws, which dramatically shrinks the window available for defenders to patch their systems, reducing...
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