Compromised Credential Statistics 2025: Costs, Trends, Defenses

• Average breach cost: Globally, the average cost of a data breach declined to $4.44 million in 2025 down from $4.88M in 2024, due to faster AI driven detection and response.
• Regional extremes: The United States saw the highest costs an average $10.22 million per breach in 2025 up 9% YoY. In contrast, the Middle East averaged ~$7.29M, and advanced economies like the UK and Germany averaged about $4.14M and $4.03M, respectively.
• Healthcare remains costliest: Healthcare breaches averaged $7.42M in 2025, far above other sectors, driven by the high value of patient data and regulatory fines. Financial services incidents averaged ~$6.08M IBM 2024 data, while retail was lower approx. $3.54M.
• Stolen credentials prevalence: Credential based attacks are the single largest initial access vector. In 2025, 22% of breaches began with stolen or compromised credentials according to Verizon, the highest of any vector. By comparison, phishing accounted for about 16% of breaches.
• Cost per credential breach: Breaches involving stolen credentials are costly averaging $4.8M per incident IBM 2024. These attacks are stealthy and damaging, often involving deep persistence.
• Detection dwell time: Attacks using compromised credentials lingered undetected far longer than others. IBM reports ~292 days average time to identify and contain such breaches versus ~200 days for quicker incidents. Longer dwell correlates with higher costs: incidents >200 days cost ~$5.01M vs ~$3.87M for faster ones.
• AI assisted attacks: Modern breaches increasingly involve AI. An estimated 16% of breaches now involve attacker use of AI e.g. deepfake phishing. Shadow AI employees using unauthorized AI tools adds roughly $670K to breach costs. At the same time, defenders using AI see major gains automated security cut average breach costs by ~$1.9M per incident.
• Mass credential leaks: The underground credential supply has exploded. In 2025 alone, threat researchers compiled 2 billion unique leaked credentials from dark web combo lists. These include email/password pairs and session tokens harvested by infostealer malware.
• Initial Access Brokers: Attackers can buy network access cheaply. Rapid7 found the average price for corporate network access was just ~$2.7K, with ~40% of offerings under $1K. Moreover, 71% of these access deals include elevated privileges, essentially turnkey ransomware ready access.
• Phishing resistance: The industry is moving toward phishing resistant authentication. For example, Google now reports 400+ million accounts using passkeys FIDO2/WebAuthn, which cannot be phished or reused across domains. Early adopters of passkeys see dramatic drops in account takeovers.

Each of these insights is drawn from recent breach reports by IBM, Verizon DBIR, Rapid7, etc. and reflects the emerging identity siege trend: adversaries favor credentials over technical exploits, driving costs and risks higher.

Compromised credentials, user names, passwords, tokens, or certificates stolen or misused by attackers have emerged as the leading driver of data breaches. In a world where organizations invest heavily in network defenses, criminals increasingly walk through the front door with valid login data. 2024–2025 statistics paint a clear picture: breaches rooted in stolen credentials are not only the most frequent, but also the costliest and longest lasting. For example, Verizon’s 2025 DBIR found 22% of breaches began with stolen credentials higher than any other category, and IBM reports these incidents take ~292 days to detect on average. Meanwhile, soaring breach costs and a global average of $4.44M in 2025 are driven largely by these identity based intrusions.

Why do these stats matter? First, they highlight that the weakest link in cybersecurity is often human authentication. Credential breaches enable wide lateral movement and ransomware with minimal technical exploits. Second, the numbers illustrate how attackers exploit systemic weaknesses, password reuse, lack of MFA, shadow credentials at scale. Third, understanding these metrics is crucial for leaders: it informs investment in defensive measures like passwordless authentication, identity threat detection, and secret management. This report dives into the data, showing how the Identity Siege has reshaped risk in 2025.

What Are Compromised Credential Statistics?

Compromised credentials statistics refers to data and metrics related to security incidents where attackers gained access using stolen or leaked login information. This includes breaches initiated by credential stuffing, phishing of passwords, purchase of hacked accounts, or malware that steals sessions. Think of it as the digital equivalent of broken keys or forged passports attackers get valid credentials and quietly move inside.

These statistics typically cover: the share of breaches caused by credential compromises, the cost and damage of those breaches, the time attackers remain undetected with valid credentials, and the volume of leaked passwords circulating on illicit markets. For example, IBM’s breach report defines compromised credentials as an initial access vector and measures how often it occurs and what it costs. In practice, if a user’s password from a previous breach is reused at a corporate account, that incident falls under these stats.

A helpful analogy: if perimeter defenses are a castle wall, compromised credentials are skeleton keys the attackers have made. Statistics in this area help organizations understand how often those keys exist and what happens when they’re used.

Global Overview 2024 vs 2025

• Cost trends: The global average breach cost eased to $4.44M in 2025 from $4.88M in 2024, thanks largely to faster AI assisted detection. In contrast, U.S. companies saw an unprecedented rise to $10.22M. This divergence reflects heavier regulatory fines and expensive breach handling in the U.S.
• Industry: Healthcare remains far costlier than other sectors. The average health sector breach fell to $7.42M in 2025 down from $9.77M, but still the highest of any industry. Finance saw average costs around $6.08M IBM 2024 report. Retail, by comparison, averaged roughly $3.54M in 2025.
• Attack vectors: Credential theft continued to surge. IBM’s 2024 data showed compromised credentials in 16% of breaches, and by 2025 Verizon reports 22% of breaches started that way. Phishing targeted email hovered around 15–16%. This shift indicates criminals are increasingly preferring valid logins over noisy exploits.

These overview stats underscore a critical shift: breaches are becoming more identity driven, and even as AI and automation help reduce some costs, leaked credentials are causing longer, deeper compromises.

Cost Breakdown

Understanding breach costs involves many components: forensic response, legal fees, remediation, and lost business. The Cost of a Breach Report 2025 shows several trends:

• Cost per record: On average, each record e.g. a file with personal data stolen in a breach costs about $160 to the victim organization. This is a small drop from the year before. Highly sensitive data like IP or medical records drive costs above this baseline.
• Detection & Response: Organizations using AI and automated tools benefit greatly. For example, companies employing security automation reported $1.9M less cost per breach, largely by cutting the detection lifecycle by ~80 days.
• Stage of discovery: Incidents disclosed by the attacker e.g. via ransomware note averaged $5.53M in 2024, versus $4.55M when found internally.
• Shadow data premium: When attackers accessed unmonitored data stores, cloud backups, file shares, breach costs jumped ~16%. This shadow data often lies outside normal security controls, so stolen credentials giving access can magnify damage.

Key takeaways: rapid detection saves millions breaches resolved under 200 days cost ~$1.39M less. Health care breaches still incur top dollar: U.S. healthcare attacks averaged $7.42M, driven by costly HIPAA fines and urgent downtime. In all sectors, lost business downtime, churn and breach response forensics, legal are now larger cost drivers than ransom payouts.

Attack Vector Distribution

Attackers still rely on old school methods though wrapped in modern tech. Below are the most common initial access routes in breaches:

• Stolen credentials 22%: By far the most common vector. Attackers use leaked passwords, social engineered credentials, or infostealer logs to log in as legit users. IBM reports these breaches average $4.81M each.
• Phishing ~16%: Carefully crafted phishing emails remain ubiquitous. Victims unwittingly hand over passwords or MFA tokens. IBM notes phishing attacks cost on average $4.88M, rivaling credential theft in cost. Notably, many phishing kits now target MFA codes AiTM attacks.
• Exploited Vulnerabilities 20%: In 2025, unpatched flaws in VPNs, web apps, etc. were an initial entry in about 20% of incidents. These often serve merely to retrieve credentials e.g. memory dumping Citrix. Average costs vary, but these tend to enable widespread access and data exfiltration.
• Supply Chain 15%: Attacks via compromised vendors or apps have surged. IBM’s 2025 report shows about 15% of breaches involved a third party supplier. For example, the 2024 Change Healthcare attack leveraged stolen access at a billing vendor. These attacks often cause mega breaches cost ~$5M on average.
• Insider 7%: While less frequent, malicious insiders cause the highest individual costs ~$5.0M on avg. These involve employees or contractors misusing their credentials.

In summary, credential abuse and phishing dominate the entry points. The availability of massive credential dumps means attackers often bypass sophisticated firewalls. A recent report found that 88% of web application breaches involved stolen creds. Once inside, adversaries typically escalate via credential theft, making the initial vector only the first step.

Industry Breakdown

Different sectors see different breach patterns and costs:

• Healthcare: Far and away the most expensive. In 2025 the average healthcare breach cost $7.42M. High cost drivers include protected health information very valuable on black markets and the critical need to keep systems online. Breaches take longest to resolve in healthcare IBM found ~279 days to identify/contain. This sector also sees frequent use of stolen credentials to deploy ransomware as in the 2024 Change Healthcare case.
• Financial Services: The second costliest, averaging roughly $6.08M per breach. Banks and fintech firms fight sophisticated credential stuffing and automation attacks. They frequently recover faster due to mature detection, but still face attacks aiming to directly siphon funds or laundering. About 95% of these attacks are financially motivated.
• Technology: Mid level costs ~$4–5M. Tech companies hold valuable IP and often face supply chain risks. Breaches here e.g. software providers can cascade to many customers. Attackers pay premiums for domain admin or code signing credentials in this sector.
• Manufacturing: Rising target, especially in APAC. Average breach costs are high ~$5.0M, reflecting costly downtime of assembly lines. 2024–25 saw a surge +71% of ransomware in manufacturing. About 32% of these attacks exploit OT vulnerabilities, but roughly 20% still start with stolen credentials e.g. to access SCADA systems.
• Retail: Lower average costs ~$3.54M due to consumer scale data, but high incident frequency especially around holiday seasons. Attackers increasingly target customer loyalty and payment accounts with credential stuffing. In Q2 2025, disclosed ransomware attacks on retailers jumped 58%. Notably, a credential stuffing breach hit VF Corp’s brands North Face in 2025, illustrating how retail sites are exploited via reused logins.
• Government & Public Sector: While specific cost figures vary, governments face large scale espionage style breaches. Many nation state attacks begin with spear phishing or supply chain compromises. Classically, breaches in government are slower to detect due to siloed systems. The 2025 IBM study noted government costs around $5M–$6M with lengthy response times.

Overall, industries holding highly sensitive or critical data health, finance, and government see the highest breach costs and longest exposure times. Retail and consumer sectors have more frequent breaches but lower per incident cost. Attack vectors also vary: healthcare heavily phished, finance hammered by credential stuffing, manufacturing often hit by OT exploits plus lateral creds.

Regional Breakdown

Breach costs and threats also differ by geography:

• North America: The US leads global costs at $10.22M per breach by far the highest worldwide. Factors include strict regulations, 40+ state breach laws, SEC cybersecurity rules, active litigation, and high value target profiles. The U.S. also sees ~25% of all global cyberattacks Microsoft data due to its concentration of wealth and IP. Canada’s costs $4.84M are rising toward U.S. levels.
• Europe: Western Europe averages ~$4–5M UK $4.14M, Germany $4.03M. Mature GDPR compliance means heavy fines for negligence, so breaches carry steep legal/regulatory costs. Breach response times in the EU have improved under strict norms IBM notes that robust GDPR aligned security is pushing down costs slightly year over year. Phishing is the dominant vector in about 60% of cases.
• Middle East & Africa: The Middle East reported ~$7.29M average, the second highest globally. This area saw large drops from 2024, attributed to heavy investment in AI defenses e.g. UAE, Saudi Arabia. However, geopolitical tensions mean many attacks are destructive. In particular, the region has seen numerous wiper/malware campaigns often starting with stolen admin credentials.
• Asia Pacific: Rapid growth in attacks APAC accounted for ~34% of global incidents in 2025. Notably, 69% of APAC breaches involved compromised credentials, suggesting slower MFA adoption in some markets. Japan’s costs $3.65M and South Korea’s have stabilized or fallen slightly, in part due to cultural caution and mandatory breach disclosures. In contrast, emerging APAC economies ASEAN nations ~$3.67M are seeing sharp increases in attacks, particularly on supply chain targets.
• Latin America: Costs are lower in Brazil ~$1.22M, but breaches are increasingly reported as more companies publish yearly data. Still, cybercrime is rising due to less mature defenses and often inadequate logging.

In summary, while credential threats are global, U.S. and Middle East victims pay the highest price in fines and losses. Regions with strong compliance Europe manage better hygiene and modest costs, whereas APAC and LATAM face growing attack volumes. Attacks often exploit local dynamics: e.g. APAC’s 2024 Facebook leaks highlighted reused local passwords, underscoring how cultural practices affect credential security.

Major Breaches of 2024–2025

Several high profile incidents illustrate the impact of compromised credentials:

• VF Corporation The North Face April 2025: VF Corp notified customers of a small-scale credential stuffing attack on its North Face online store. Hackers reused usernames/passwords leaked from earlier breaches to log into accounts. Though only a few thousand accounts were affected, personal data names, emails, etc. were exfiltrated. This incident underscores how credential reuse in one breach leads to downstream compromises elsewhere.
• Change Healthcare February 2024: In one of the largest healthcare breaches, the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group breached UnitedHealth’s Change Healthcare subsidiary. Congressional testimony revealed the entry point: compromised Citrix credentials allowed remote access without MFA to the billing network. BlackCat then deployed ransomware, shutting down hospitals’ billing systems nationwide. This attack and a $22M ransom payment exemplifies how a single stolen credential, in a high value third party system, can cascade into industry wide crises.
• Synthient Credential Database April 2025: While not a breach of a single company, threat intelligence firm Synthient aggregated 2 billion unique email/password pairs circulating in credential stuffing lists. These lists compiled reused credentials from countless past breaches. The leaked data posted on Have I Been Pwned highlights the sheer scale of credential leakage: any organization’s users likely had at least some credentials exposed. Synthient’s work shows how attackers can automate breaches at scale by cycling through these leaked combos.

Each case highlights facets of the credential threat: the North Face incident was driven by reused credentials; Change Healthcare by a targeted steal of corporate creds; Synthient’s database by automated gathering of billions of leaked logins. Together, they illustrate why defenses can’t rely solely on perimeter tools and identity must be secured end to end.

Emerging Trends

Looking ahead, several trends are shaping the credential threat landscape:

• Professionalization of the Underground: The initial access broker IAB market is booming. Dark web forums now offer packaged network access deals. Rapid7’s 2025 report found the average price for corporate access was just $2,700, and about 40% of deals were under $1,000. Most IAB sales 71% include not just an entry point but privileged credentials, often Domain Admin. In effect, ransomware groups no longer need hacking skills; they simply buy ready made access. This commoditization means even small businesses are targets, as their networks are for sale. Security teams must now assume that any exposed entry RDP, VPN accounts could be weaponized almost immediately.
• Infostealer Malware Epidemic: Malware that harvests credentials passwords, cookies, certificates has surged. IBM X Force reports 84% more infostealer delivery via phishing in 2024 than 2023, and early 2025 data suggests a ~180% jump over 2023. Dominant families include Lumma, Vidar, RedLine, and the newer RisePro. These stealers build vast combo lists: Troy Hunt notes we now have billions of stolen passwords and cookies in circulation. This scale fuels credential stuffing attacks: if even 1% of those 2B credentials are valid for some service, attackers automate logins endlessly.
• AI in Attack and Defense: Generative AI is a double edged sword. On offense, AI helps craft highly effective phishing content reports that show AI generated phishing emails get >>50% click rates in tests and to bypass 2FA via Adversary in the Middle kits like EvilProxy or Tycoon. About 16% of breaches now involve attacker AI, and prompt bombing MFA fatigue is on the rise. Meanwhile, defenders are deploying AI tools for anomaly detection: organizations using AI/automation contain breaches ~80 days faster. This time advantage can prevent an attacker from achieving deep data exfiltration.
• Leaked Secrets on GitHub: A dangerous trend is accidental leakage of machine credentials API keys, tokens in code repositories. Recent research shows 65% of top private AI companies had exposed API keys or tokens in public GitHub repos. A 2024 security report found ~13 million leaked secrets on GitHub overall. These keys often belong to cloud services or databases. Attackers routinely scan GitHub, then use discovered secrets to pivot into corporate networks where the keys may have admin privileges. The ubiquity of CI/CD pipelines and open source code has turned GitHub into a high volume leak source.
• Shift to Secure Authentication Passkeys: In response, industry is embracing passwordless and phishing resistant login methods. By 2024 Google alone had 400+ million accounts using passkeys FIDO2/WebAuthn. Unlike SMS or push MFA, passkeys cannot be intercepted or reused on attacker domains. Organizations adopting FIDO2 drastically cut credential phishing losses. This transition is critical: any move away from static passwords and even OTPs drastically shrinks the credential threat surface.
• Non Human Identities: Finally, machine identities are a growing concern. Cloud applications, microservices, and bots now have far more credentials than humans. Many organizations lack visibility. One survey found up to 77% of machine accounts are unmanaged. Leaked API keys from repos or build systems have led to breaches where attackers impersonate services e.g. hijacking a SaaS integration. While data on this is still emerging, it’s clear that as enterprises deploy more automation, securing service accounts and API tokens will become as vital as protecting user passwords.

These trends show the landscape evolving: credentials are sold, stolen, and automated. Defenders must likewise modernize, using AI for detection, eliminating passwords where possible, and inventorying all forms of identity human and machine. The battle has moved beyond code exploits to identity economics.

What These Statistics Mean

The hard data paint an unequivocal picture: identity is the new perimeter. Stolen credentials are by far the most common and costly attack vector. Breaches driven by credential abuse end up lasting months and costing millions, far outpacing incidents from, say, pure software exploits. In effect, cybercrime has industrialized identity theft: attackers can buy access cheaply, use automated stealers to hoover up logins, and employ AI to hijack sessions.

For organizations, the implication is stark. Traditional defenses, firewalls, and signature AV are insufficient when adversaries hold valid keys. Security strategy must shift to assume breach and focus on limiting what credentials can do. The statistics show that investment in identity protection and rapid response pays off: AI enabled monitoring shaved ~80 days off average breach detection, saving nearly $2M. Conversely, failure to rotate credentials or enforce MFA leads to drawn out and expensive recoveries.

Ultimately, the math favors attackers: with billions of passwords circulating Synthient’s 2B and credential stuffing yielding hits in 22% of breach attempts, adversaries have a huge head start. Without changes, breaches will continue to climb in scope and cost. The data suggest a clear defense imperative: shrink the credential attack surface e.g. passwordless logins, shorten dwell time AI triage, and hunt aggressively for leaked secrets. The next breach will likely start with credentials statistics indicate when, not if.

Best Practices for Mitigation

Given the risks, here are recommended strategies to blunt credential based attacks:

• Deploy Phishing Resistant MFA: Move beyond SMS or app codes. Use FIDO2/WebAuthn passkeys or hardware security keys wherever possible. These prevent even sophisticated phish kits AiTM from intercepting logins. Google’s move to passkeys over SMS is a leading example.
• Inventory & Secure All Identities: Maintain an up to date inventory of user and machine accounts. Use a password manager and enforce unique, strong passwords. Rotate service account keys regularly and vault them. Scan code repositories and containers for hard coded secrets the 13M GitHub leaks illustrate the stakes.
• Apply Least Privilege: Limit administrative rights. Rapid7 found most brokered access comes with high privileges ensuring that compromise of any single account can’t immediately escalate. Implement just in time privileges and continuous attestation of privileged sessions.
• Monitor and Respond: Use AI/ML based anomaly detection on login behavior and network flows. Security teams using AI and automation found breaches ~80 days faster. Prioritize monitoring for unusual logins, multiple geolocations, odd hours and unusual access to critical data stores.
• Credential Hygiene: Ban password reuse across critical systems. Integrate dark web password watching e.g. a breached password API into login flows block logins using known breached passwords.
• Incident Preparedness: Assume an intruder with valid creds is already inside. Practice rapid response playbooks the report notes those with incident plans saved ~$1.23M. Secure backups offline the new breed of ransomware attacks admin accounts and backups.

By implementing these practices, organizations can start to reverse the trends. The data is clear: each day saved in breach detection saves millions. Each mitigated credential leak avoids another potentially catastrophic intrusion.

FAQs

• How prevalent are credential related breaches?

According to recent industry reports, stolen or compromised credentials are the initial attack vector in roughly 20–22% of breaches. In other words, about one in five successful breaches starts with attackers using a valid username/password. This makes credential abuse the single largest cause of breaches, surpassing phishing and software vulnerabilities.

• What is the average cost of a data breach today?

Globally, the average cost of a data breach fell to about $4.44 million in 2025. However, costs vary widely by region and industry. U.S. breaches average $10.22M the highest in the world, while sectors like healthcare average $7.42M. Shorter breach lifecycles faster detection tend to keep costs lower, while long undetected incurs huge extra expense breaches over 200 days can cost ~$1.4M more on average.

• How much damage do breaches involving stolen credentials cause?

Very high damage. IBM’s research shows breaches using stolen credentials average $4.81M each comparable to the global average breach cost. More importantly, these breaches usually last longer IBM cites 292 days to identify and contain, the longest of any vector, leading to deeper data theft and higher cumulative losses in lost business, legal fees, etc..

• What industries are targeted most by credential theft?

All industries face credential threats, but highly lucrative or regulated sectors feel it hardest. Healthcare suffers the highest per incident cost average $7.42M and often long recovery times. Finance and tech firms also see frequent credential attacks because of the direct monetary value bank accounts, trading systems, IP. Retail companies are targeted too for example, 2025 saw a surge +58% in Q2 in ransomware hits on retailers, often via stolen employee or customer logins. No sector is immune; any organization with web accessible accounts is a potential target.

• How do attackers typically steal credentials?

The main methods are 

• Phishing: tricking users into entering credentials on fake sites or forms currently about 15–16% of breaches start this way.
• Malware Infostealers: malicious software that scrapes saved passwords, cookies, and tokens from infected machines. IBM found an explosive growth in infostealer infections in 2024.
• Credential stuffing: using automated tools and leaked credential lists e.g. Troy Hunt’s 2B password database to try old usernames/passwords on new sites.
• Third party breaches: credentials stolen from partners/vendors e.g. the Change Healthcare breach.
• Insider misuse: employees abusing their access. Often these methods overlap e.g., stolen passwords from one breach get used to phish or log in elsewhere.

• What role does AI play in credential attacks?

AI is a force multiplier on both sides. Attackers use AI for Adversary in the Middle phishing kits e.g. EvilProxy that can steal MFA tokens in real time, and to craft highly convincing phishing lures and deepfakes. Studies estimate about 16% of breaches involve attacker AI. Shadow AI employees uploading data to public AI tools also indirectly increases risk. On defense, organizations with AI driven security can detect breaches much faster, cutting detection time by ~80 days, saving roughly $1.9M per breach in response costs.

• How can organizations protect against compromised credentials?

Best practices include enforcing phishing resistant multi factor authentication FIDO2 passkeys or hardware tokens everywhere attackers cannot phish a passkey like a password. Monitor for leaked credentials: use threat feeds the FBI, Troy Hunt’s HIBP, etc. to block logins with known breached passwords. Implement least privilege so that any stolen account has minimal access. Scan code repos and cloud assets for exposed secrets API keys, tokens. And importantly, assume breach: have IR plans, isolate critical data, and employ analytics to catch anomalous logins quickly. The data shows that faster detection directly translates to lower costs, so investing in identity monitoring pays dividends.

The 2024–2025 data make one fact unmistakable: the cyber risk landscape is defined by identity. Far from being a fringe issue, stolen and misused credentials are now the primary path into networks and the driver of record setting breach costs. Attackers have industrialized identity theft, they buy access cheaply, harvest billions of passwords, and use AI to bypass protections. Meanwhile, organizations that ignore this trend pay a steep price in downtime, fines, and damaged trust.

Going forward, defenders must shift their focus. Perimeter firewalls and signature based detection will not stop a legitimate login with a wrong password. Instead, companies must architect resilience: eliminate phishable factors, adopt passkeys, tightly govern every credential human and machine, and use AI to spot the unusual quickly. If they do, the balance can tip back each day shaved off breach lifecycles saves millions. But without action, the identity siege will only intensify. The statistics tell us the path: protect identity aggressively, or risk everything.

About the AuthorMohammed Khalil is a Cybersecurity Architect at DeepStrike, specializing in advanced penetration testing and offensive security operations. With certifications including CISSP, OSCP, and OSWE, he has led numerous red team engagements for Fortune 500 companies, focusing on cloud security, application vulnerabilities, and adversary emulation. His work involves dissecting complex attack chains and developing resilient defense strategies for clients in the finance, healthcare, and technology sectors.