Has purchased user credentials and other sensitive data from Initial Access Brokers (IABs).1234
Acquire Access T1650
- Tactic
- Resource Development
- Platform
- PRE
- Version
- 1.0
- Created
- 10 March 2023
- Last modified
- 24 October 2025
- Contributors
- Jeremy Kennelly; Jeffrey Barto
Adversaries may purchase or otherwise acquire an existing access to a target system or network. A variety of online services and initial access broker networks are available to sell access to previously compromised systems.[1][2][3] In some cases, adversary groups may form partnerships to share compromised systems with each other.[4]
Acquire Access MITRE reference T1650
1 group has been recorded using this technique. Newest first; each entry carries MITRE’s procedure text and a link to the group’s full record. Click a name to filter the rules below.
All 1 groups for this technique
Offense vs defense T1650
Is defensive coverage keeping up with adversary use? Eight counts, each ranked against all 697 ATT&CK techniques. Attack sits left, defense right, so a shape leaning left means adversaries are better documented here than defenders are equipped. Hover any spoke for its percentile and the share of techniques that have more. The timeline below shows when each side arrived.
Acquire Access detection strategy DET0884
MITRE names one behaviour worth catching for this technique and breaks it into 1 analytic, one per platform. Each carries the log sources it needs and the fields you tune per environment.
Detection of Acquire Access
AN2016 · PRE
Much of this takes place outside the visibility of the target organization, making detection difficult for defenders. Detection efforts may be focused on related stages of the adversary lifecycle, such as during Initial Access.
This technique cannot be easily mitigated with preventive controls since it is based on behaviors performed outside of the scope of enterprise defenses and controls.