68% of Organizations Experienced Data Leakage From Employee AI Usage

AI chat screen on cellphone — Thai Liang Lim/ iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

*Thai Liang Lim/ iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images*

A recent Metomic survey found that artificial intelligence (AI) has created a number of data security challenges. While 90% of respondents expressed confidence in their organizations' security measures and 91% believed their employee training initiatives were successful, the reality tells a different story. More than half reported regular malware attacks, phishing schemes and data breaches — many directly linked to improper AI implementation and usage.

The report highlights that 68% of organizations have experienced data leakage incidents specifically related to employees sharing sensitive information with AI tools. Despite these incidents, 23% have implemented comprehensive AI security policies.

When asked what could prevent their security program from being successful in 2025, 80% of survey respondents cited fostering a strong security culture within their organization as their top challenge. This finding aligns with a 2024 report from the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and Enterprise Strategy Group that revealed 74% of CISOs believe cybersecurity complexity and workloads have increased in the past two years — a reality exacerbated by rapid AI adoption across organizations.

The report also includes insights on how security leaders plan to allocate their time and resources, with 44% prioritizing security infrastructure oversight and implementation — much of which now focuses on securing AI systems and preventing data leakage through these channels. This marks a shift from last year when security operations was the top priority, now falling to third place behind security infrastructure and security awareness training.

Ransomware has overtaken phishing schemes and customer data breaches as a top security concern in the U.S., with AI-enabled ransomware attacks showing particular sophistication. In the UK, security risks associated with third-party suppliers have surged by more than ten percentage points as a top concern, largely driven by the integration of third-party AI solutions.

Read the report.

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Taelor Sutherland is the Associate Editor at Security magazine. Sutherland covers news affecting enterprise security leaders, from industry events to physical & cybersecurity threats and mitigation tactics. She is also responsible for coordinating and publishing web exclusives, multimedia content, social media posts, and a number of eMagazine departments. Sutherland graduated in 2022 with a BA in English Literature from Agnes Scott College.