New Guidance For Business Email Compromise

Business Email Compromise (BEC) occurs when a criminal accesses a work email account in order to trick someone into transferring money, or to steal valuable (or sensitive) data.For this reason, BEC attacks are often directed at senior staff, or those that can authorise financial transactions. 

Unfortunately, BEC attacks, which are a type of phishing attack, are significantly increasing. Now, there are important new guidelines about how to disrupt targeted phishing attacks, which are often aimed at senior executives and/or budget holders in organisations.

A recent UK Government cyber-attack report revealed that in 2023, 84% of businesses and 83% of charities have experienced a phishing attack in the past 12 months. Now, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has recently published new BEC guidance includes practical steps that will reduce the likelihood of your organisation suffering from a BEC attack. 

It is specifically aimed at smaller organisations who might not have the resources (or expertise) to implement the NCSC’s existing guidance on phishing attacks in full.BEC attacks can be difficult to detect. Criminals use sneaky methods that aim to pressure victims into acting quickly. 

• The guidance details how reducing your digital footprint, helping your staff to detect phishing emails, applying the principle of ‘least privilege’ and implementing 2-step verification can all protect against  BEC attacks. 

• It includes steps to take if you think your email account has already been compromised, or if you have been tricked into making a fraudulent payment.

Whilst implementing the steps detailed in the guidance will reduce the likelihood of BEC attacks, it does not make your organisation impervious to all cyber threats. The NCSC has also recommend that organisations plan for attacks and practice responding to attacks in a safe environment using the NCSC’s Exercise in a Box.   

For More Information About NCSC Guidance click: HERE

NCSC   |    NCSC     NCSC   |   Gov.UK:   |   Image:  Unsplash

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