62%About 6 in 10of breaches involved a person's action or mistake, such as clicking a phishing link, up from 60%
62% of breaches involved a person's action or mistake, such as clicking a phishing link, up from 60% (Nov 2024 to Oct 2025, Verizon Business, Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR))
Vendor dataChecked at source, 23 Oct 2026All sizesGlobalCyber security · Breaches
Source: Verizon Business, Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR)A breach can have more than one factor, so shares add to more than 100%. Verizon forbids pie charts of DBIR data.digitaltreed.com/statistics
In plain words
What this number really says
62% of breaches involved a person's action or mistake, such as clicking a phishing link, up from 60% (Nov 2024 to Oct 2025).
62%
the latest figure (Nov 2024 to Oct 2025)
Vendor data
type of source
Why you can trust it. Verizon Business, Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR): vendor data, a company measuring its own customers or panel.
Verizon Business, Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR)
Source type
Vendor data: A company measuring its own customers or panel
What it measures
62% of breaches involved a person's action or mistake, such as clicking a phishing link, up from 60%
Data period
Nov 2024 to Oct 2025 (ends 31 Oct 2025)
Published by the source
19 May 2026
In the source's words
Human element was present in 62% of breaches, a slight increase from the previous year’s 60%.
Checked at source
23 Oct 2026: Read in the Verizon 2026 DBIR PDF on verizon.com. p.12. New stat.
Reuse
Copyright Verizon. Statistics may be cited as "Verizon 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report" if not modified.. Verizon allows citing statistics unmodified with the citation above and a link to verizon.com/dbir; paraphrasing requires their review; pie charts from DBIR data are forbidden. Use bar, column or table only.
No changes recorded yet. First checked at the source on 23 Oct 2026.
Cite this number
APA
Verizon Business. (2026). 62% of breaches involved a person's action or mistake, such as clicking a phishing link, up from 60%. Via digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/cybersecurity/breaches-with-human-element
MLA
"62% of breaches involved a person's action or mistake, such as clicking a phishing link, up from 60%." Verizon Business, Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), Nov 2024 to Oct 2025. digitaltreed, https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/cybersecurity/breaches-with-human-element.
HTML link
<a href="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/cybersecurity/breaches-with-human-element">62% of breaches involved a person's action or mistake, such as clicking a phishing link, up from 60%</a> (Verizon Business, Nov 2024 to Oct 2025)
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<p>Source: <a href="https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/cybersecurity/breaches-with-human-element">62% of breaches involved a person's action or mistake, such as clicking a phishing link, up from 60%, digitaltreed</a></p>
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FAQ
Questions about this number
What is the latest figure for breaches (Global)?
62% of breaches involved a person's action or mistake, such as clicking a phishing link, up from 60%, for Nov 2024 to Oct 2025, according to Verizon Business, Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR). We checked it at the source on 23 Oct 2026.
Related
More Cyber security statistics
Vendor dataAll sizesGlobal
31%
of breaches started with attackers exploiting a software vulnerability, now the top way in, ahead of stolen credentials (13%)
Sample: 31,861 incidents, 22,625 confirmed breaches in 145 countries, 1 Nov 2024 to 31 Oct 2025, from Verizon and partner contributors.
