What Is A BEC Attack?

A Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack is a sophisticated form of phishing where cybercriminals impersonate company executives or trusted partners to mislead employees, customers, or vendors into transferring money or divulging confidential information.

These scams rely heavily on social engineering tactics and often involve detailed knowledge of the company's operations, making them particularly dangerous and effective.

Steps Involved In A BEC Attack

While cybercriminals continually refine their tactics, BEC attacks usually follow the same playbook. Here’s an insight into the typical steps that underpin most BEC schemes:

1. Reconnaissance: The attacker gathers information about the target company's organizational structure, partners, and key personnel. This information often comes from public sources such as social media or corporate websites.
2. Spoofing: The attacker creates an email account that looks similar to a legitimate one or gains control of an actual email account through hacking.
3. Engagement: Engagement: The attacker, posing as a company executive or partner, sends a convincing email to a specifically chosen employee. The email may request an urgent wire transfer, payment of invoices, or sensitive information.
4. Execution: If the employee complies, the funds or information is sent to the attacker, often resulting in financial loss or data breaches.

Why BEC Attacks Slip Past Defenses

Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks are notorious for their stealth and sophistication, often eluding standard security measures. Here's why they're so hard to detect:

Fewer Emails, Less Noise

BEC attacks typically involve sending very few emails—sometimes just a single targeted message. This low volume means they don't create the usual patterns or spikes in email traffic that security systems look for when identifying threats. Because there are fewer clues to pick up on, these attacks can fly under the radar.

Realistic Email Addresses

Attackers often use email addresses that look just like legitimate ones. They might use an email domain that differs by only a small detail from the real one, which can be easily overlooked. For example, instead of "name@company.com," the attacker might use "name@companny.com." This tactic exploits the recipient's familiarity and trust, reducing the likelihood of the email being flagged as suspicious.

Compromised Genuine Accounts

Sometimes, the email doesn't just look real; it is real. Attackers can gain access to and use a legitimate email account by stealing the credentials of an actual employee. Emails sent from such accounts are especially deceptive. As a result, detecting the attack relies heavily on recipients' vigilance and ability to notice subtle anomalies in the email content or unusual requests, which might hint at the underlying deceit.

Effective Social Engineering

BEC attackers often do their homework. They research their targets thoroughly, understanding their role in the company and who they communicate with regularly. This background allows them to craft messages that sound incredibly authentic.

Domain Misconfigurations

During their reconnaissance phase, BEC attackers actively scan for domains with vulnerabilities, such as weak or improperly configured SPF and DMARC records. By exploiting these weaknesses, attackers can spoof your domain and send phishing emails that appear to come from your organization.

Different Types Of BEC Attacks

BEC attacks come in various forms. While the techniques may differ, they all start the same way: with a phishing email. The real challenge for employees is trying to discern which emails are legitimate business communications and which are bait dangled by cybercriminals. Let’s break down the most common types of BEC attacks to help you understand how they operate and what to watch out for.

Credential Harvest

This type of BEC attack often uses a malicious hyperlink embedded within an email. Clicking on this link leads the victim to a convincingly fake website that mimics a well-known service, like Office365 or Gmail. The site prompts the user to enter their login credentials, which are then secretly transmitted to the attacker.

Endpoint Compromise

Here, the attack vector is an email attachment that seems harmless or even important. However, once the attachment is downloaded and opened, it executes malicious code. From there, they can steal data, install more malware, or even lock files for ransom. It’s a direct and dangerous way to gain deep access to a network.

Reply-To Attack

In this multi-layered approach, the email appears to come from someone the victim knows and trusts. By manipulating this trust, the attacker engages the victim in an ongoing conversation, gradually steering them towards performing an action detrimental to themselves or their company. This could involve transferring funds, providing confidential information, or other actions that seem benign in the context of the conversation but are anything but.

Protecting Against BEC Attacks

As BEC attacks continue to evolve, so must our strategies to defend against them. Attackers employ a range of tools to exploit vulnerabilities, bypass spam filters, and orchestrate sophisticated phishing campaigns. Here’s how you can strengthen your defenses against BEC attacks:

Phishing Simulation Training

One of the most effective defenses against BEC attacks is knowledge and awareness. By training your employees through phishing simulations, they learn to recognize BEC attacks. Simulated phishing scenarios provide a safe environment for your team to learn and make mistakes, which significantly reduces the likelihood of falling for real attacks.

Email Domain Scanning

If your domain isn't up to snuff with best practices, it could be wide open for attackers to spoof. This means they could use weaknesses in your SPF and DMARC settings to mimic your domain in phishing emails. These attacks could target your employees or customers, tricking them into thinking these deceitful emails are from you.

Luckily, there's a proactive step you can take without spending a dime. With CanIPhish's 100% free domain scanning tool, you can test your domain's configuration. This handy tool helps you identify any issues with your SPF and DMARC records, spot potentially malicious senders lurking in your supply chain, and check for vulnerabilities in your email infrastructure.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Implementing MFA can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access, even if attackers manage to obtain login credentials. MFA requires users to provide two or more verification factors to access their accounts, adding an extra layer of security against credential theft.

Employee Awareness and Training

Continuously educate employees about the latest phishing techniques and encourage a culture of security. Regular training sessions can include a variety of cybersecurity topics. Still, they should include simulations of BEC scenarios and other phishing attacks to help employees recognize and appropriately respond to them.

Secure Email Gateways

Implement secure email gateways to filter out phishing emails before they reach user inboxes. These gateways scrutinize incoming emails for suspicious content and quarantine those that pose a risk. By using advanced algorithms and constantly updated threat databases, secure email gateways provide an essential layer of defense against incoming threats. It is key to note that the effectiveness varies from one SEG vendor to the next.

Procedural Safeguards

Establish clear protocols and procedures for financial transactions within your business, including predefined limits and additional security checks for transactions above a certain threshold. It's a simple, non-technical step that is proven to be effective.

Wrapping Up

To protect against BEC threats, it is crucial to regularly train employees, monitor email domain security, enforce multi-factor authentication, and maintain strict procedural safeguards for financial transactions. Tools like CanIPhish provide valuable resources, including phishing simulations and domain scanning tools, to strengthen your defenses.

Pro Tip: A quick hack to improving your security culture is to raise awareness with our fun and free posters! For the full range of complimentary security awareness material, check out CanIPhish's free downloads page

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a business email compromise attack?

A Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack is a form of phishing where cybercriminals impersonate a company insider to trick employees into transferring funds or divulging confidential information.

What is the difference between business email compromise and phishing?

Phishing is a broad technique used to steal personal information, often through deceptive emails to many recipients. BEC is a highly targeted form of phishing aimed at specific company employees to mislead them into making financial transactions or giving away sensitive information.

How do we prevent business email compromise?

To prevent BEC:

• Use multi-factor authentication.
• Train employees to recognize phishing emails.
• Ensure your domain is correctly configured to prevent spoofing.

Can my LinkedIn profile be used against me in a BEC attack?

Absolutely, yes. LinkedIn is one of the primary sources used to gather personal details about potential targets within a company. This information can be used to craft highly personalized and convincing emails that appear to come from a trusted source, such as a colleague or supervisor. Be cautious about the details you share publicly.