The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) announced in its annual report on July 8, 2026, that reported data breaches in the Netherlands rose to 39,407 in 2025, warning that artificial intelligence is significantly accelerating the speed and scale of cyberattacks.
According to the AP report, the total number of data breaches increased from 37,839 cases in the previous year.
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The authority highlighted a sharp rise in accidental public exposure of personal data within public administration, which jumped from 199 cases in 2024 to 346 in 2025, often due to government agencies forgetting to redact personal details before publishing documents online.
Conversely, the public sector saw improvements in securing physical data carriers, as cases of lost laptops, phones, or USB sticks dropped from 288 in 2024 to 89 in 2025.
The AP emphasized that cybercriminals are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence to create highly personalized phishing campaigns quickly and at scale through ready-made "phishing-as-a-service" kits available online.
To combat these escalating digital threats, cybersecurity firm Commvault introduced a live, scenario-driven simulation called "Commvault Minutes to Recovery" to help organizations measure and test their response times against AI-driven attacks under realistic conditions.
Data from 2025 indicates that the timeframe between discovering a vulnerability and exploiting it has shrunk to just 29 minutes, marking a 65 percent increase in speed compared to the prior year.
The authority also highlighted specific localized impacts resulting from administrative oversights.
The municipality of Midden-Delfland accidentally published a document online containing the names and addresses of 133 residents who opposed the arrival of an asylum seekers' center, causing widespread concern and fear among the community.
