BEC (Business Email Compromise)
"Business Email Compromise" (BEC) refers to security and cybersecurity. BEC is a cyberattack in which criminals utilize social engineering methods to get into company email accounts and pose as partners or workers to trick, mislead, or steal money from an organization. BEC attacks are usually very sophisticated and cause significant financial losses for the targeted organization.
Here are some common characteristics and methods associated with Business Email Compromise:
Impersonation: Attackers may impersonate high-ranking executives, vendors, or trusted partners to trick employees into taking specific actions, such as making financial transactions, transferring funds, or sharing sensitive information.
Spear Phishing: Highly targeted and seemingly genuine spear phishing emails are frequently the first step in BEC attacks. These emails could be infected with malware or have links to rogue websites meant to steal login information or grant illegal access.
Social Engineering: Attackers use psychological manipulation to gain the victim's trust, exploiting their relationships and knowledge of the organization's internal processes to craft convincing requests for money transfers or other sensitive actions.
Spoofed Domains: Attackers may use domain spoofing techniques to make their email communications appear to originate from a legitimate source within the organization.
Wire Transfer Fraud: A common goal of BEC attacks is to deceive employees into making unauthorized wire transfers, often to fraudulent accounts controlled by attackers. These transfers can result in substantial financial losses.
Vendor Fraud: Some BEC attacks involve impersonating vendors or suppliers to request payment changes or divert payments to the attacker's account.
Invoice Manipulation: Attackers may alter invoices or billing information to deceive employees into paying fraudulent invoices.
Organizations should implement strong cybersecurity measures to reduce the likelihood of BEC attacks, including training staff members to spot phishing scams and social engineering techniques. BEC attacks can also be less likely with multi-factor authentication, email filtering services, and email authentication standards like DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance). Organizations should also set up explicit protocols for approving and validating financial transactions and keep a close eye on email correspondence for indications of compromise.
How ThreatNG Combats Business Email Compromise (BEC)
ThreatNG's multi-faceted capabilities enable it to proactively detect, prevent, and mitigate Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, safeguarding your organization from financial and reputational damage. Let's explore how ThreatNG specifically addresses the BEC threat landscape:
BEC & Phishing Susceptibility Assessment
Identify Vulnerabilities: This core feature helps pinpoint weaknesses in your email security infrastructure and employee susceptibility to phishing and social engineering techniques often used in BEC attacks.
Proactive Mitigation: By providing actionable insights into potential vulnerabilities, ThreatNG enables you to strengthen your defenses, including implementing additional security measures like multi-factor authentication (MFA), enhanced email filtering, and employee awareness training.
Detect Spoofed Domains & Impersonations: By analyzing DNS records, subdomains, and certificates, ThreatNG can identify domains that spoof legitimate entities or impersonate executives and vendors in BEC attacks.
Monitor for Malicious Activity: ThreatNG's continuous monitoring of domain and IP intelligence can alert you to any suspicious activity related to your domain or the domains of your partners, such as sudden changes in DNS records or newly registered domains that mimic your organization.
Social Media & Online Sharing Exposure
Uncover Social Engineering Attempts: Monitoring social media posts and online sharing platforms like Pastebin can reveal potential social engineering campaigns that could be used to gather information for BEC attacks or distribute phishing links.
Identify Exposed Sensitive Information: ThreatNG can detect the accidental sharing of sensitive information on social media or code-sharing platforms that attackers could use to craft convincing BEC emails.
Detect Compromised Accounts & Misconfigurations: By monitoring your cloud and SaaS environment, ThreatNG can identify potential account compromises or misconfigurations that could be exploited for BEC attacks, such as unauthorized access to email systems or sensitive data stored in cloud services.
Identify Compromised Credentials & Data Leaks: ThreatNG's dark web monitoring capability can detect leaked or stolen credentials and any mentions of your organization or its executives that could be leveraged for BEC scams.
Assess Financial Stress & Insider Threats: By analyzing organizational sentiment, layoffs, and financial filings, ThreatNG can identify potential insider threats or financial difficulties that might increase the likelihood of BEC attacks targeting your organization or its partners.
Archived Web Pages & Technology Stack
Gather Intelligence & Context: Analyzing archived web pages and technology stacks provides valuable information about an organization's structure, processes, and potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited in BEC attacks.
Examples:
Scenario: An attacker sends an email impersonating the CEO requesting an urgent wire transfer.
ThreatNG's Role:
BEC & Phishing Susceptibility could identify potential weak points in your email security.
Domain Intelligence could identify if the sender's email domain is spoofed or has recently been registered.
Social Media & Online Sharing Exposure could uncover any reconnaissance efforts on social media related to the CEO or the company.
Scenario: An attacker sends a fraudulent invoice impersonating a vendor.
ThreatNG's Role:
Supply Chain & Third Party Exposure would assess the vendor's security posture and identify potential compromises.
Dark Web Presence could detect if the vendor's credentials or data have been leaked.
Archived Web Pages could provide insights into the vendor's legitimate invoicing process to compare with the fraudulent invoice.
Complementary Solutions:
ThreatNG can integrate with:
Email Security Gateways: To enhance email filtering and block malicious emails.
Security Awareness Training Platforms: To educate employees on BEC tactics and strengthen their ability to recognize and report suspicious emails.
Incident Response Platforms: To streamline the investigation and response to BEC incidents.
By combining its extensive capabilities with complementary solutions, ThreatNG provides a robust defense against Business Email Compromise, ensuring your organization's resilience against this pervasive threat.
