Enlarge Image Kaspersky

An underground market operated by "Russian-speaking people" is serving as eBay for compromised servers.

Over 70,000 compromised servers owned by governments, companies and universities in 173 nations are being sold on a marketplace called xDedic, according to security firm Kaspersky. Access to a hacked server can be purchased for as little as $6 (around AU$8 or £4).

India is among the most affected nations with over 3,488 compromised servers, the firm said in a statement. Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa and Australia were also in the top 10 most targeted countries.

The servers being sold offer illegal access to governmental, corporate and university networks as well as gaming, betting, dating, banking and shopping websites. Some servers contain preinstalled software that could be used to attack financial and point-of-service software, Kaspersky said.

The news comes after a wave of hackings, many being traced back to Russia, have taken place over the last month.

Earlier this week it emerged that hackers may have stolen Democrats' research on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Hackers had access to the network since last year, according to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, who said that the intruders were working with Russian intelligence agencies.

Meanwhile, Germany has suspicions that Russia was behind a cyberattack that took down computers in the country's parliament last month. Hans-Georg Maassen, president of the German intelligence agency, told Reuters that Russia has long used computers to spy on Germany but that lately, "Russian intelligence agencies have also shown a willingness to conduct sabotage."

Not all recent hackings have been political, with celebrities such as actor Jack Black, singer Katy Perry and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg all having their social media accounts breached in the past month.