According to Verizon’s 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report analyzing 31,000 incidents, exploitation of software vulnerabilities has overtaken stolen credentials as the leading cause of enterprise breaches, accounting for 31% of cases versus 13% for credential abuse. Challenges in patch management persist, with only 26% of critical vulnerabilities fully remediated in 2025 and median patch times increasing, while the growing use of AI by attackers is accelerating exploit timelines, underscoring the urgent need for continuous, risk-based vulnerability management and defense-in-depth strategies.
