Business Email Compromise (BEC): How to Protect Your Company from One of the Most Costly Cyber Threats

As digital threats become more complex and targeted, Business Email Compromise (BEC) has emerged as one of the most damaging and deceptive forms of cybercrime. Unlike traditional phishing attacks, BEC doesn’t rely on malware or brute-force tactics. Instead, it exploits something far more powerful: trust.

Whether you run a mid-sized company or a global enterprise, understanding how BEC works and how to protect against it is no longer optional. It’s a business imperative. Learn more about how to defend against business email compromise here.

What Is a Business Email Compromise?

Business Email Compromise (BEC) refers to a category of social engineering attacks where cybercriminals impersonate trusted individuals — often executives, finance officers, or vendors — in order to manipulate employees into transferring funds or disclosing sensitive information.

BEC attacks are typically email-based, but they may also involve phone calls (vishing), SMS (smishing), or even multiple coordinated touchpoints. The common thread is deception. Attackers create highly convincing messages that appear to come from within the organization or from trusted third parties.

Unlike phishing, which often casts a wide net with generic lures, BEC is surgical. It’s about targeting the right person, at the right time, with the right message. That’s what makes it so effective — and so dangerous.

What a Business Email Compromise Really Looks Like

Let’s start with a number that should make anyone in leadership pause: in 2022 alone, Business Email Compromise (BEC) accounted for over $2.7 billion in adjusted losses, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. That makes it the most financially damaging cybercrime recorded — ahead of ransomware, ahead of data theft, ahead of anything else.

But beyond the monetary impact, a BEC attack leaves a trail. Customer trust collapses. Projects are paused. Internal teams scramble. In some cases, sensitive contracts or employee data are exposed. And then comes the regulatory aftermath — especially if your organization handles financial data or operates in a regulated sector.

So why does this kind of attack work so well? Because it doesn’t look like an attack at all.

How a BEC Attack Happens — and Why It's So Dangerous

In most cases, a BEC scenario unfolds in three quiet, calculated phases.

First, there’s the reconnaissance phase. The attacker doesn’t rush. They scrape LinkedIn profiles, download org charts, read press releases. Their goal: understand who talks to whom, how decisions are made, and who moves the money.

Then comes infiltration or impersonation. Sometimes they compromise a real account. Sometimes they just spoof one with a domain that looks right. Either way, the message they send blends into the daily flood of internal communication. It may be marked "urgent" or "confidential," or simply mimic an ongoing conversation. But it feels legit.

Finally, there's the execution. A fake invoice. A request to update banking details. A wire transfer needed "before end of day." The person on the receiving end, often in finance or HR, recognizes the name, sees the familiar formatting, and — under pressure — complies.

No malware. No virus alert. No suspicious link. Just a quiet, devastating manipulation of internal trust.

The Many Faces of a BEC

The most notorious variant is CEO fraud: someone pretends to be the company’s top executive and pushes a finance manager to approve an urgent payment. But it doesn’t stop there.

Another tactic is vendor email compromise. Attackers gain access to a supplier’s mailbox — or convincingly imitate it — and send a real-looking invoice with "updated bank details." Because the transaction is legitimate and expected, nobody questions the change… until the money is gone.

There’s also payroll diversion, where fraudsters pose as employees and ask HR to change their direct deposit details. Salaries are paid — but to criminal-controlled accounts.

And sometimes, attackers impersonate legal counsel or compliance teams, invoking pressure, confidentiality, and a touch of legal threat to short-circuit usual approval processes. It works more often than we’d like to admit.

Why a BEC Slips Past Traditional Security

Many companies feel safe because they’ve invested in top-tier cybersecurity tools. But BEC doesn’t care about your antivirus software.

There are no infected attachments, no sketchy links to block, no malware to scan. Instead, the attacker uses legitimate platforms — Office 365, Google Workspace — and clean, professional language. The message looks right, sounds right, and lands at just the wrong time: during audit season, while the CFO is traveling, or when teams are overwhelmed.

It’s not a technical breach. It’s a breach of context, of attention, of routine. That’s what makes it so hard to catch — and so effective.

How to Build a Real Defense Against a BEC

Protecting your company from BEC doesn’t start with software — it starts with people and process.

First, raise awareness. Most phishing trainings aren’t enough. Employees need to be exposed to BEC-specific simulations, ones that reflect how attackers actually behave. They need to be trained to pause when something feels off — even if the sender is the CEO.

Second, strengthen verification protocols. No sensitive action — especially involving payments or bank details — should rely solely on an email. Double-checking by phone or requiring dual approval might slow things down slightly, but it can stop six-figure losses in their tracks.

Third, complement that human vigilance with smart tech. Use tools that detect domain spoofing, unusual login locations, or changes in communication patterns. But remember: these tools augment, they don’t replace, employee judgment.

Lastly, limit access. Not everyone needs the keys to the vault. Restrict financial privileges to those who truly require them, and establish clear, rehearsed procedures for flagging and escalating suspicious activity.

Because the worst thing about BEC? It rarely feels like a crisis — until it is.

Featured Image by Pixabay.