AI Emerges as the New Insider Threat: Thales Releases the 2026 Data Threat Report
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Tue, 03/03/2026 – 15:00
Over the past year, I’ve watched AI move to operational reality across nearly every industry we work with. The conversation is no longer about whether AI will transform business. It already has.
Todd Moore | Global VP of Data Security Products at Thales
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Over the past year, I’ve watched AI move to operational reality across nearly every industry we work with. The conversation is no longer about whether AI will transform business. It already has.
What concerns me, and what this year’s Thales Data Threat Report confirms, is how profoundly it is transforming risk.
The report’s findings send a clear message: AI has moved from an innovation driver to a primary security concern.
According to the report, 61% of organizations now cite AI as their top data security risk. At the same time, 70% of IT and security professionals say the pace of AI-driven transformation is their most significant security challenge.
AI is embedded in workflows, connected to cloud platforms, accessing sensitive data, and increasingly acting with autonomy. However, AI does not introduce entirely new weaknesses. It scales existing ones.
And security teams are struggling to keep up.
AI Is Acting Like a Trusted Insider
One of the most striking findings in this year’s report is how organizations are treating AI systems.
AI tools and agents are increasingly granted broad, automated access to enterprise data, often with fewer controls and less oversight than human users.
What stands out to me this year is how quickly AI has shifted from being viewed as a productivity enhancer to being treated like a trusted insider. Insider risk is no longer just about people. It now includes automated systems that are being trusted too quickly and often too broadly.
When identity governance, access policies, or data protections are weak, AI does not simply inherit those weaknesses; it amplifies them at machine speed.
Visibility and Encryption Gaps Are Exposing Organizations
This year’s findings highlight a troubling reality: many organizations lack foundational data visibility and protection.
- Only 34% know where all their data is stored
- Just 39% can fully classify their data
- 47% of sensitive cloud data remains unencrypted
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