Inside The Economy Built On Stolen Credentials
Help Net Security, Friday, September 26th, 2025
Instead of going after software flaws or network weaknesses, attackers are targeting something much easier to steal: identity credentials. A new report from BeyondID calls this growing black market the identity economy, where usernames, passwords, tokens, and access rights are bought and sold much like items on a regular online marketplace.
For attackers, stolen credentials are a shortcut. They can skip firewalls and other defenses and go straight into corporate systems. This makes them the currency of choice in the cybercrime world and has created an underground market that is hard to shut down.