Industry Reacts to Verizon DBIR 2026 as Vulnerability Exploitation Takes Top Spot

The 2026 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Repor t (DBIR) has sparked widespread industry reaction, with security leaders warning that AI-enabled attacks, vulnerability exploitation, and third-party risk are reshaping the threat landscape faster than many organisations can respond. For the first time in the report’s history, vulnerability exploitation overtook stolen credentials as the leading initial access vector, a shift many experts say reflects both AI acceleration and growing operational