Inside the 2027 Data Breach Industry Forecast: AI, Identity & Emerging Threats (Episode 168) #DataTalk

Welcome to “Fraud Frontlines,” a special series within the DataTalk™ podcast, hosted by Kathleen Peters, exploring the latest trends in identity and fraud prevention.

AI is giving cybercriminals a powerful new tool: the ability to create convincing digital doppelgängers.

In this episode of “Fraud Frontlines,” Kathleen Peters, Chief Innovation Officer for Experian Identity and Fraud, joins Michael Bruemmer, Vice President of Global Data Breach Resolution at Experian, to explore how this emerging threat fits into a rapidly evolving cyber landscape. Drawing on findings from Experian’s 14th annual Data Breach Industry Forecast: Consumers at Risk, they examine how AI is accelerating cyber threats, challenging consumer trust and reshaping the future of digital identity.

Drawing on 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, Michael explains how AI is acting as a “turbocharger” for cybercrime, enabling criminals to enrich stolen data and operate at unprecedented scale. The conversation also explores the rise of “digital doppelgängers”: synthetic replicas built from years of breached data, publicly available information and behavioral signals.

As consumers face an increasingly persistent threat landscape, they’re also experiencing “breach fatigue.” Some are responding by creating alternative or masked identities to protect their personal information, creating new challenges for businesses trying to distinguish legitimate consumers from fraudsters.

Looking ahead to 2027, Kathleen and Michael discuss the need to modernize data breach notification laws and rethink identity verification. They explore how technologies such as passkeys, liveness detection and behavioral analytics can help organizations establish human authenticity, and why consumer trust is becoming an increasingly important strategic asset for businesses.

Tune in to learn how organizations can navigate AI-driven cyber threats, strengthen identity protection, and help build a more secure digital ecosystem.

Michael Bruemmer is Vice President and Head of Experian^® Global Data Breach Resolution and Consumer Protection at Experian. The Data Breach Resolution group is a leader in helping businesses prepare for a data breach and mitigate consumer risk following breach incidents. 

With more than 25 years in the industry, Michael brings a wealth of knowledge related to data breach preparedness and breach management from discovery to post-incident clean up.  He has handled some of the nation’s largest breaches over his tenure with Experian and more than 60,000 to date including incidents that span globally. Michael has educated businesses of all sizes and sectors through pre-breach and breach response planning and delivery, including notification processes to affected consumers, call center set up and identity theft protection services.

He is a respected speaker and presents to industry organizations across the country on the topic of data breaches and provides insight to many trade and business media outlets including Dark Reading, IT Business, CIO, Info Security, Security Week, Health IT Security, Wall Street Journal, American Banker and others. He has been a guest columnist for SecurityInfoWatch and has appeared on broadcast channels such as Fox Business.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in Labor Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.