Business Email Compromise
An email has become an essential tool for any successful business, but as the saying goes, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to ensure your emails are secure. It’s one of the key ways to stop your business data from falling into the wrong hands.
Business Email Compromise (or BEC) is a growing threat. If you become a target, you could be financially harmed.
So, what exactly is a BEC attack?
In simple terms, BEC attacks involve scammers posing as high-level business figures, such as CEOs, executives, and IT staff. The goal is to trick employees into sharing sensitive information or sending money. Research shows that nearly 90% of BEC attacks are set up this way.
It’s easy to see how someone might quickly respond without a second thought, especially when they trust the sender.
BEC attacks have spiked dramatically this year, especially over the third quarter. Researchers have analyzed 1.8 billion emails worldwide, discovering 208 million malicious emails. Of these malicious emails, more than half (58%) were BEC attempts.
The figures make it clear: BEC scams are now the biggest email threat to businesses.
Another thing worth noting? Most BEC scams target employees lower in the business, who might be less likely to question authority or be less aware of cyber threats.
Although BEC attacks are common, it’s also important to remember that scammers use other methods. This includes commercial spam and phishing attacks that trick people into sharing personal information, like login details.
The combined effect of these scams now overshadows traditional ransomware and malware attacks.
It isn’t complicated or expensive to protect your business.
Ensure all team members are trained to think twice about every email they receive.
If an email requests sensitive information or a financial transaction—especially if it seems urgent—your employees should know to stop and check with someone before they act.