# The 2026 DBIR says the quiet part loud: fundamentals still win

DevFeed: [The 2026 DBIR says the quiet part loud: fundamentals still win](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/the-2026-dbir-says-the-quiet-part-loud-fundamentals-still-win-1964.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://1password.com/blog/the-2026-verizon-dbir>)

Author: info@1password.com (Dave Lewis)

Published: 2026-06-11T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Blog on 1Password Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/blog-on-1password-blog.md>)

Topics: [Security](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/security.md>), [Vulnerabilities](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/vulnerabilities.md>), [ransomware](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ransomware.md>), [Cybercrime](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cybercrime.md>), [Artificial Intelligence](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [breach](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/breach.md>), [exploits](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/exploits.md>), [ransomware](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ransomware.md>), [security](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/security.md>), [statistics](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/statistics.md>), [tips-advice](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tips-advice.md>), [vulnerabilities](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/vulnerabilities.md>)

## AI overview

The article reviews the 2026 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, arguing that basic security practices remain essential. It highlights rising vulnerability exploitation, slower remediation, ransomware prevalence, and the potential impact of AI on future vulnerabilities.

## Source excerpt

Every year, the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) is one of the most hotly-anticipated and widely-read documents in security. And every year includes some surprising stats and reshuffles the top few threat vectors. But longtime readers will notice that the 2026 DBIR features some advice that ought to be familiar to everyone by now: get the basics right. The report's authors even say that the overarching theme this year is "keeping a strong foundation in the face of change." So what does a strong foundation look like? It looks like patching faster, reducing credential reuse, tightening third-party access, and making it harder for attackers to turn one weak login into a company-wide mess. Glamorous? No. Effective? Yes. Exploits, credentials, and AI: The stories that stood out in the 2026 DBIR This year's DBIR analyzes more than 31,000 incidents, including more than 22,000 confirmed breaches across 145 countries. It's not light reading, unless your idea of a beach read includes ransomware economics, exploit chains, and the occasional donut chart. But diving deep into these topics is worthwhile, because the numbers show both change and stubborn repetition. Vulnerability exploitation is surging In terms of eye-popping statistics, the big story this year is the explosion of vulnerability exploitation, which is now the leading initial access vector for breaches-far exceeding phishing and credential abuse. Only 26% of critical vulnerabilities in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog were fully remediated in 2025, down from 38% the prior year. Median time to full remediation rose to 43 days, a huge jump from last year's 32 days. Maybe the scariest part of this whole scenario is that these are pre-Mythos numbers, and security experts are still bracing for an AI-powered hurricane of vulnerabilities. The report's authors attribute this escalation to the sheer volume of vulnerabilities organizations had to face, finding that there were roughly 50% more