For less than $3,000, a cybercriminal can purchase remote access to your corporate network — no hacking skills required.
This underground market is powered by Initial Access Brokers (IABs), a specialized group of threat actors who obtain entry into organizations and then sell it to the highest bidder.
What Are Initial Access Brokers?
IABs work quietly behind the scenes. They exploit vulnerabilities, harvest stolen credentials from infostealer malware, or leverage exposed remote access points like RDP, VPN, or misconfigured cloud accounts.
Once they’ve breached an environment, they don’t deploy ransomware or steal data themselves. Instead, they sell that access to other cybercriminals — ransomware operators, espionage groups, and data thieves — creating a cybercrime supply chain.
Read SecurityWeek’s in-depth breakdown of the IAB economy.
Why This Threat Is Growing
Several factors are fueling the IAB market:
- Explosion of stolen credentials: Infostealer malware is flooding underground forums with username/password combinations and active session tokens.
- Weak MFA adoption: Many organizations still lack multi-factor authentication for VPN, RDP, and admin accounts — a key point noted at RSAC 2025 in SC Media’s coverage.
- Professionalized cybercrime: Rapid7 research shows the average access sale price is $2,700, often bundled with elevated privileges for a premium.
Real-World Consequences
When an attacker buys access from an IAB, they can:
- Deploy ransomware within hours
- Exfiltrate sensitive data without detection
- Establish long-term persistence for espionage or sabotage
In many cases, IAB-facilitated breaches go undetected until after major damage is done — and by then, your data, reputation, and regulatory standing are on the line.
How to Protect Your Organization
Legion Cyber’s experience in Dark Web Monitoring and Threat Intelligence gives us front-row visibility into the IAB ecosystem. Here’s what we recommend:
- Enable MFA everywhere — especially for VPN, RDP, privileged accounts, and cloud services. Use phishing-resistant MFA like Yubikeys or Passkeys instead of authenticator apps and SMS.
- Monitor for leaked credentials — our Dark Web Monitoring services can identify exposure before attackers act.
- Harden remote access configurations — restrict RDP, enforce device posture checks, and disable unused accounts.
- Implement continuous security monitoring — with our Managed Security Services, unusual login activity can trigger rapid response.
- Prepare an incident response plan — so if a compromise occurs, you can contain it quickly with our Incident Response expertise.
The Bottom Line
The IAB threat isn’t going away — in fact, it’s becoming a standard precursor to ransomware and data breaches. The earlier you can detect, block, or respond to their activity, the less likely your organization is to become the next victim.
If your credentials are in an Initial Access Broker’s inventory, the clock is ticking.
Legion Cyber can help identify exposure, strengthen your defenses, and monitor for threats in real time.
Contact us today to start protecting your organization against the dark web’s growing access economy.