By Pete Stauffer, Account Executive, Locknet Managed IT
Every business owner knows to lock the front door, set up the alarm, and keep an eye on the cash drawer. But today, one of the biggest risks to your business doesn’t come through the front door but through an inbox.
Cybercriminals increasingly target businesses not by breaking through firewalls, but by tricking employees. And for businesses that manage payroll, wire transfers, vendor payments, or client funds, the stakes are especially high.
Why this matters for your business
More than 90% of successful cyberattacks against businesses start with a phishing email, according to industry research. And one scam in particular, business email compromise (BEC), should be on every business owner’s radar.
BEC scams typically involve a fraudster impersonating a company executive, vendor, or trusted partner to convince an employee to wire money or share sensitive financial information. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported nearly $3 billion in BEC losses in a single recent year — a number that keeps climbing year over year.
What makes this even more concerning is how these scams are evolving. Attackers are now using AI to:
- Write emails that read as polished and professional, without the typos or awkward phrasing that once made phishing easy to spot
- Mimic the tone and style of a real colleague, vendor, or executive
- Create convincing deepfake audio or video — for example, a voice that sounds exactly like your CFO asking for an urgent wire transfer
For businesses that regularly move money, this means the old advice of “watch for bad grammar” is no longer enough.
The real cost of a successful attack
A single successful attack can affect a business well beyond the initial financial loss. Businesses that experience a breach or fraud incident often face:
- Direct financial loss from fraudulent wire transfers or payments that are difficult or impossible to recover
- Operational disruption, as staff and systems are taken offline to contain and investigate the incident
- Reputational impact with customers, vendors, and partners who expect their information and transactions to be handled securely
- Ongoing costs tied to remediation, legal obligations, and rebuilding affected systems
For many small and midsize businesses, a serious cyber incident isn’t just an inconvenience — it can threaten the viability of the business itself.
Building a “human firewall”
The good news is this is a risk your business can actively manage. Technology alone (spam filters, antivirus software, firewalls) can’t catch everything, especially as scams become more sophisticated. Your employees are your first, and often best, line of defense if they know what to watch for.
Some practical steps businesses can take:
Verify before you transfer. Any request to change payment details, send a wire, or share account information should be verified through a separate, known communication channel instead of replying to the email or message that made the request. Pick up the phone and call a known number.
Establish a callback policy. For any request involving money movement, require a verbal confirmation with a known contact before funds are sent, especially for new or changed banking instructions.
Train employees regularly, not just once. Ongoing security awareness training helps employees recognize new and evolving tactics, including AI-generated phishing and deepfake attempts.
Test your defenses. Simulated phishing tests can help identify which employees or departments may need additional training, before a real attacker finds the same gap.
Limit who can authorize transactions. Dual authorization for wire transfers and payment changes adds a critical checkpoint that can stop a fraudulent request even if an employee is initially fooled.
A shared responsibility
Protecting your business from these threats is a company-wide habit, not just an IT issue. The businesses that fare best against these evolving scams are the ones that treat security awareness as an ongoing part of doing business.
