{"id":4679,"date":"2021-09-20T07:43:23","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T12:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/?p=4679"},"modified":"2021-09-17T17:10:40","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T22:10:40","slug":"how-to-prevent-business-email-compromise-incidents-7-ways-to-lower-your-risk-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/how-to-prevent-business-email-compromise-incidents-7-ways-to-lower-your-risk-level\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prevent Business Email Compromise Incidents: 7 Ways to Lower Your Risk Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AYou get an email one afternoon from the CEO of the company you work for telling you that he\u2019s in the process of finalizing a top-secret acquisition and needs you to wire funds ASAP to close the deal. How do you respond?<\/p>\n

If you think this scenario seems suspect, you have good instincts. It has all the hallmarks of a business email compromise (BEC) attack \u2013 a type of phishing scheme<\/a> in which hackers take over or spoof corporate email accounts and attempt to trick victims (often employees or clients of the person they\u2019re imitating) into disclosing sensitive information or sending money, according to the Infosec article \u201c5 real-world examples of business email compromise<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

BEC or email account compromise (EAC) attacks cost victims more than any other type of cybercrime, according to the 2020 Internet Crime Report<\/a> from the FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). In 2020, the IC3 received 19,369 complaints about BEC\/EAC attacks that involved adjusted losses of over $1.8 billion.<\/p>\n

Given how staggeringly expensive a business email compromise incident can be, it\u2019s advisable to proactively take steps to prevent hackers from utilizing this tactic to defraud your business. Leveraging the following strategies can help prevent business email compromise incidents.<\/p>\n

1. Train your employees to recognize BEC scams.<\/h2>\n

Your employee security awareness training<\/a> sessions should include information on how to spot phishing emails and the procedure for responding to suspicious messages (e.g., reporting them to your security team), according to a public service announcement from the IC3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While BEC scams used to typically involve a hacker spoofing or taking over the email account of a CEO or CFO and asking for wire payments, they\u2019ve evolved over the years, according to the 2020 Internet Crime Report. Cybercriminals might also pretend to be vendors or lawyers and ask for gift cards or W-2 information.<\/p>\n

Other red flags include an emphasis on urgency, requests to keep the interaction secret, and the email coming from a domain name that looks legit but is off by one letter, according to the Deloitte article \u201c5 ways to mitigate the risks of business email compromise attacks<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all company email accounts.<\/h2>\n

Having MFA in place<\/a> is a must if you haven\u2019t already deployed it. Also called two-factor authentication<\/a>, this cybersecurity solution adds an extra layer of protection on top of passwords and makes it much harder for hackers to take over your team members\u2019 email accounts, according to the CSO article \u201c14 tips to prevent business email compromise<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Add banners or flags to external emails.<\/h2>\n

Alert recipients in either the subject or the body with a warning banner for emails that come from senders outside of your organization, as advised by the Center for Internet Security (CIS)<\/a>. You can usually achieve this via transport rules for inbound messages on your email server.<\/p>\n

4. Install an email filtering solution.<\/h2>\n

With email or spam filtering<\/a> in place, you can stop messages with common characteristics of phishing scams as well as those that come from suspicious IPs from landing in your staff members\u2019 inboxes, according to the CIS.<\/p>\n

5. Establish a formal process for financial transactions that involves verification in person or via phone call.<\/h2>\n

The IC3 advises creating a workflow for all payments that involves calling a known phone number or confirming in person that the request is legitimate.<\/p>\n

6. Stop utilizing legacy email protocols.<\/h2>\n

Older protocols such as IMAP, SMTP and POP can give hackers a way to get around MFA, according to CSO.<\/p>\n

7. Block automatic forwarding to external email addresses.<\/h2>\n

This is a common part of many BEC scams, according to the IC3. After taking over an account, hackers might set up automatic forwarding of any messages containing financial information to an external email address.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, business email compromise schemes are common and incredibly costly. It makes sense to invest in preventive measures and avoid the huge headache (financial and otherwise) that\u2019s in store for your organization if one of your staff members falls for a fraudulent message.<\/p>\n

If you have any questions about how to prevent business email compromise, our security team is available to assist you. Our comprehensive portfolio of managed cybersecurity services<\/a> includes solutions that can lower your BEC attack risk level, such as email filtering, two-factor authentication and employee security awareness training.<\/p>\n

For details, just call 877-599-3999 or email sales@stratospherenetworks.com<\/a> to connect with our security specialists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You get an email one afternoon from the CEO of the company you work for telling you that he\u2019s in the process of finalizing a top-secret acquisition and needs you to wire funds ASAP to close the deal. How do … Read more ><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[261],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-tips-from-the-president"],"yoast_head":"How to Prevent Business Email Compromise Incidents<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Business email compromise (BEC) attacks are a common and costly type of cybercrime. 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