Hackers claim to have breached the network of a major auction house and offered access to whoever was willing to pay $120,000.
Security researchers found the advertisement on a hacker forum known for providing a market for initial access brokers (IABs) after analyzing a sample of 72 posts.
Expensive network access
Researchers at threat intelligence company Flare poured through three months of IAB offers on the Russian-language hacker forum Exploit to better understand who they target, their ask prices, and who are the most active.
From May 1st until July 27, brokers advertised access to more than 100 companies across 18 industries including defense, telecommunications, healthcare, and financial services.
Eric Clay, vice president of marketing at Flare, says in a report shared with BleepingComputer that attacks against companies in the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. companies were the most common - not surprising given their high gross domestic product (GDP).
Organizations in the finance and retail sectors were the most targeted, followed by construction and manufacturing, Clay notes in the report.
Depending on the company profile and country, prices started at $150 and most of them were for initial access through VPN or RDP. About a third of the listings were under $1,000.
However, the most expensive item for sale was $120,000 (BTC 4 at the time) for access to the network of a multi-billion dollar auction house.
The hackers did not provide too many details but said they had privileged backend access to multiple high-end auctions (i.e. admin panel), like Stradivarius violins or collectible cars.
“While most access is low to medium value, occasionally extremely unique or high-value access is auctioned that ..
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