When an organization’s credentials are leaked, the immediate consequences are rarely visible—but the long-term impact is far-reaching. Far from the cloak-and-dagger tactics seen in fiction, many real-world cyber breaches begin with something deceptively simple: a username and password.
According to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, leaked credentials accounted for 22% of breaches in 2024, outpacing phishing and even software exploitation. That’s nearly a quarter of all incidents, initiated not through zero-days or advanced persistent threats, but by logging in through the front door.
This quiet and persistent threat has been growing. New data compiled by Cyberint—an external risk management and threat intelligence company recently acquired by Check Point—shows a 160% increase in leaked credentials in 2025 compared to the previous year. The report, titled The Rise of Leaked Credentials, provides a look into not just the volume of these leaks, but how they are exploited and what organizations can do to get ahead of them. It’s worth reading in full for those responsible for risk reduction.
A Surge Fueled by Automation and Accessibility
The rise in leaked credentials is not just about volume. It’s also about speed and accessibility. In one month alone, Cyberint identified more than 14,000 corporate credential exposures tied to organizations whose password policies were still intact—implying active use and real threat potential.
Automation has made credential theft easier. Infostealer malware, often sold as a service, allows even low-skilled attackers to harvest login data from browsers and memory. AI-generated phishing campaigns can mimic tone, language, and branding with uncanny accuracy. Once credentials are gathered, they are either sold on underground marketplaces or offered in bundles on Telegram channels and illicit forums.
As outlined in the ebook, the average time it takes to remediate credentials leaked through GitHub repositories is 94 days. That’s a three-month window where an attacker could exploit access, undetected.
How Credentials Are Used as Currency
Leaked credentials are currency for attackers—and their value goes beyond the initial login. Once obtained, these credentials become a vector for a range of malicious activity:
- Account Takeover (ATO): Attackers log into a user’s account to send phishing emails from a legitimate source, tamper with data, or launch financial scams.
- Credential Stuffing: If a user reuses passwords across services, the breach of one account can lead to others falling in a chain reaction.
- Spam Distribution and Bot Networks: Email and social accounts serve as launchpads for disinformation, spam campaigns, or promotional abuse.
- Blackmail and Extortion: Some actors contact victims, threatening to expose credentials unless payment is made. While passwords can be changed, victims often panic if the extent of the breach isn’t…
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