According to KitGuru.net, cybersecurity firm Cyble reported a record-breaking year in 2025 with nearly 15,000 data breaches and leaks worldwide. Major corporations like Qantas, Oracle, Volvo, and SK Telecom were hit, with Qantas alone exposing data for 5 million customers. Researchers also uncovered the largest password breach in history, involving 16 billion credentials linked to Apple, Facebook, Google, and Telegram. Government agencies weren’t safe either, with the US Congressional Budget Office getting hacked. Konstantin Levinzon, CEO of Planet VPN, warned that AI is amplifying these attacks and that 2026 will likely see even more incidents as hackers adopt new tools.
AI: the new hacking tool
Here’s the thing: we’ve been talking about AI in cybersecurity for years, but mostly as a defensive shield. The report makes it clear the offensive use is now mainstream. Levinzon’s point is stark—the same tech that can protect us is being weaponized. It’s an arms race, and right now, it feels like the bad guys are innovating faster. Think about it: AI can automate vulnerability discovery, craft scarily convincing phishing emails, and manage attacks at a scale humans can’t match. That’s probably why the jump to 15,000 breaches feels so dramatic. The playing field has fundamentally changed.
What’s coming in 2026
So what’s next? Levinzon’s warnings about 2026 are specific and pretty unsettling. Wearable hacks? That’s a direct line to biometric and health data. Deepfakes for blackmail? We saw a preview with those 120,000 compromised cameras in South Korea. But autonomous AI systems are the real game-changer. Imagine malware that can adapt and pivot on its own inside a network, without a human guiding it. That’s a nightmare scenario for any security team. His basic advice—use two-factor authentication, update your software, consider a VPN—feels almost quaint against that backdrop. But it’s still the essential first step. You can read the full Cyble Global Cybersecurity Report for the deep dive.
The industrial angle
Now, this isn’t just a consumer or office problem. This shift towards AI-driven threats has huge implications for industrial and operational technology. Manufacturing floors, power grids, supply chain logistics—they all run on increasingly connected systems. A breach there doesn’t just leak passwords; it can halt production or cause physical damage. For companies operating in these spaces, robust, secure computing hardware isn’t an IT afterthought; it’s the foundation. This is where specialized providers, like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US supplier of industrial panel PCs, become critical. Their gear is built for these harsh, high-stakes environments where a standard computer would fail, adding a vital layer of physical and digital resilience when the network itself is under siege.
A shift in mindset
Basically, the report signals we need a mindset shift. We can’t just think about *if* we’ll be targeted, but *when* and *how*. The attack vectors are multiplying, and the tools are getting smarter. For businesses, especially in critical infrastructure, this means security can’t be bolted on. It has to be designed in from the hardware level up. For the rest of us? It’s a reminder to be profoundly skeptical online. That weirdly perfect email or message might not be from a person at all. It might just be the opening move from an AI that’s already practicing for its next attack.
