Email is one of the most common means of communication in business. However, it is also among the most effective tools of hackers to get into your system. Therefore, learning the dangers and taking the necessary measures to safeguard communications is a very important aspect of cybersecurity in companies. This can save your business from awful financial and information compromises.
Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks refer to frauds in which the perpetrators assume the identity of important personnel within your organization. This means threat actors will pretend to be executives, IT personnel, or managers to deceive employees. Hence, leading them to divulge information or transfer money. Interestingly, studies on cybersecurity in companies reveal that most BEC attacks depend on this impersonation technique. It is the desire to reply immediately to an email from a friendly and familiar sender. Thereby, putting employees at risk of falling for these scams.
The volume of BEC attacks has accelerated over the last year. A similar study on cybersecurity in companies recently examined 1.8 billion emails and concluded that 208 million of them were malicious, with 58% of them being BEC attempts. Lately, these sorts of scams have become the most common type of email-related threat to businesses displacing ransomware and malware.
Cybercriminals specifically go after juniors. Typically, those who do not argue or even are not aware that an authority figure is leading them into a scam campaign. As such, these kinds of attacks continue to exist and increase in frequency. Additionally, there is no sector of a company that cannot be targeted. Therefore, experts on cybersecurity in companies emphasize the importance of communication and awareness to everyone in the company.
Although BEC attacks are common, scammers are also looking into other ways of working like phishing and commercial spam. These attacks attempt to obtain a person’s full information, mostly focused on passwords or login information. Oftentimes, these are masked as emergencies or official business. Together, all the methods pose a great threat to business entities, as well as individuals.
Fortunately for your business, guarding against these threats need not be expensive or confusing.
Train your team to be cautious when an email that they receive is asking for sensitive information or a financial transaction.
Make your employees more vigilant about any tasks they are assigned to do if they deem that the request is peculiar or if it is pressing.
Strengthening passwords and using two-factor authentication helps in keeping threats away. Additionally, update rules of using emails and protected accounts frequently.
Exercising utmost caution is important in cybersecurity in companies, this is to ensure that you and your company are safe from these scams.
BEC scams and other email threats are realistic but not invincible. If you are still in doubt about your current security or just need help, schedule your consultation with us today. Here are EB Solution, our team of IT and cybersecurity experts are your reliable partners. Get in touch with us and prevent loss for your business, starting with knowledge is the best approach.