"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 the targeted organization significant financial losses.

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: Spear-phishing emails, which are highly targeted and seem genuine, 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 put strong cybersecurity measures in place 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.

ThreatNG is an all-in-one solution encompassing External Attack Surface Management (EASM), Digital Risk Protection (DRP), and Security Ratings. It fortifies an organization's defense against BEC by comprehensively monitoring and safeguarding its external digital presence. By proactively identifying vulnerabilities and potential points of exploitation, EASM ensures that attackers find it significantly more challenging to breach the organization's defenses. Simultaneously, DRP capabilities offer continuous risk assessment and threat intelligence to identify BEC-related digital risks across the web, dark web, and social media, providing valuable insights to mitigate potential threats proactively. Furthermore, Security Ratings give a holistic view of the organization's digital security posture, aiding internal security teams in optimizing their protective measures while also bolstering external defenses to reduce the risk of BEC attacks collectively.