Business Email Compromise Threats
Business email compromise (BEC) is a growing threat to businesses of all sizes. In a BEC attack, an attacker impersonates a senior executive or a trusted vendor and sends an email to an employee requesting sensitive information or money transfers. These attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and are causing businesses to lose billions of dollars each year.
Here are some of the most common BEC threats that businesses need to be aware of:
- Impersonation attacks: In an impersonation attack, the attacker creates an email that looks like it’s from a senior executive and requests sensitive information or a money transfer.
- Phishing scams: BEC attacks often use phishing scams to trick employees into revealing sensitive information or making money transfers.
- Domain spoofing: In a domain spoofing attack, the attacker creates an email address that looks like it’s from a trusted source, such as a vendor, and uses it to request sensitive information or money transfers.
- Invoice fraud: In invoice fraud, the attacker sends an email that looks like it’s from a vendor and requests payment for an invoice that’s due. The payment is typically directed to a bank account controlled by the attacker.
To protect against these and other BEC threats, it’s important for businesses to take the following steps:
- Implement multi-factor authentication: Multi-factor authentication provides an extra layer of security that makes it harder for attackers to gain access to email accounts.
- Train employees: Regularly train employees on the dangers of BEC attacks and how to identify suspicious emails.
- Verify requests: Verify requests for sensitive information or money transfers before acting on them. If an email request seems suspicious, reach out to the sender to confirm the request is legitimate.
- Use security software: Use security software, such as antivirus and antispam solutions, to detect and prevent BEC attacks.
In conclusion, BEC attacks are a growing threat to businesses of all sizes. To protect against these attacks, it’s important to be aware of the dangers and to take proactive measures to secure your email accounts. By following the steps outlined in this post, you can help ensure the security of your business and the sensitive information it contains.
