SecurityWise: What Is Business Email Compromise?

31 Oct 2022

Business email compromise (BEC) is a form of phishing that occurs when a cyber-criminal impersonates a legitimate source to trick employees into transferring money, sharing sensitive information, or engaging in other compromising activities. Typically, the cyber-criminals behind BEC attacks will send legitimate-looking emails, requesting payments for business purposes. In such instances, cyber-criminals may pretend to be senior-level employees, suppliers, vendors, business partners or other organisations.

Unlike more traditional phishing attacks that target large groups of individuals, BEC attacks are crafted to appeal to specific individuals, making them harder to detect and potentially more damaging. BEC is a threat that all businesses, regardless of size or industry, should take seriously.

Common BEC Attacks

• False invoice schemes — Criminals pretend to be business suppliers and request fund transfers to complete invoices, usually with a sense of urgency.
• CEO or Senior Management fraud — Criminals pose as high-level executives to request money transfers.
• Account compromise — Cyber-criminals hack into executive or an employee account to request invoice payments directly from vendors.
• Legal impersonation — Hackers impersonate corporate solicitors, or law firms, to request immediate fund transfers.
• Data theft — Criminals pose as HR or other functional roles, to obtain personally identifiable information or tax statements from other employees or executives.

Signs of a BEC Attack

Differentiating between a legitimate business request and BEC attack can be difficult. Here are some common signs that an email is indeed a BEC attack.

• A sense of urgency or threatening language - be suspicious.
• Generic terms or lack of personalisation - does it sound legitimate?
• Variations to email addresses or company websites.
• Unfamiliar names or images. Is the design and overall image quality what you’d expect?
• Requests to send personal or financial information - always treat with suspicion.

Protecting Against BEC Attacks

BEC attacks can result in severe financial and reputational harm. Consider implementing the following cyber-security practices to help limit the likelihood of such attacks within your organisation.

• Educate employees — Teach your employees to be wary of emails making requests. Never click suspicious links and report any suspected BEC attacks to IT, as the earlier they are notified, the more likely they’ll be able to help.
• Implement effective payment protocols — Ensure employees, in charge of financial operations, analyse invoices for validity and discuss them in person whenever possible. If possible, consider verification via another method.
• Restrict access to sensitive data — Only provide access to sensitive data to trusted and experienced employees who require this information.
• Utilise security features — Ensure all organisational devices possess adequate security features. This could include email spam filters, antivirus software, malware prevention programs, data encryption capabilities and a firewall.

Have a plan

If you’ve already clicked, don’t panic, and talk with your IT team. Ensure your organisation has an effective cyberincident response plan and tell your IT department to ensure that easy steps are in place for responding to phishing attacks and specifically address response protocols and mitigation measures for BEC attacks.

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Source: SecurityWise