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Initial Access Brokers: The Hidden Market Selling Your Network to the Highest Bidder

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What if your company’s network was compromised and access plus privileged credentials were for sale without your knowledge?

Initial Access Brokers (IABs) are reshaping the cybercriminal landscape. Operating in secretive forums, they’re turning missed defender opportunities into profit, selling off initial access vectors — and in many cases privileges — into hundreds of organizations to anyone willing to pay.

The Rapid7 2025 Access Brokers Report dives deep into this underground economy to reveal how access brokers operate, what they’re selling, who they’re targeting, and how cheap access to your network really is. We’ll also cover what your business can do to effectively detect and respond to the IAB compromise — before the situation escalates.

What we found:

Privileged access is common: Over 70% of IAB listings included user privileges, allowing attackers to move laterally and escalate quickly.
It’s affordable: Nearly 40% of listings were priced between $500 and $1,000, making already-compromised networks accessible to attackers of all skill levels.
Many of the same entry points: Nearly 60% of listings offered access via the top three access points.

Download the report now to get all the details.