23 years
97.9 Customer Satisfaction Score
200k Tickets Closed
83% resolved remotely
97% Resolved within SLA Goal

BEC Scam Helps Hackers Steal Over $46M from Company

How fast could your company lose $46M? BEC Scams do it in minutes. Find out how criminals hack CEO emails to earn themselves a huge payday at your expense.  

Business Email Compromise

Sometimes criminals hide in the shadows and sometimes they hide behind technology, waiting, ready to strike at the most vulnerable. You know this, so you’ve invested in employee education. Employees are aware of common cybersecurity threats and email scams. But the BEC scam turns everything on its head.

It does so by hijacking the CEO’s most important business communication tool, email.

What Is a BEC Scam?

A cybersecurity-aware employee would always check to see where an email is coming from if that email asks them to do something like send millions to a strange account. But what if that email looks like it comes from you?

A Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam is conducted via your CEO’s own business email account. The hackers monitor your email for days or months undetected before sending an email from you to one or more of your employees, asking them to do something like:

  • Wire money from the company accounts
  • Share their login to company programs

If an employee got an email from you, would they question it? In a modern workplace, you’ve built a team around you who would ask “why”. But what if the person receiving the email is not in your trusted circle?

Scammers often target those who report to them, and don’t know you as well, instead.

Hackers take it a step further. They use automation tools found on your email account to instantly identify and delete any emails questioning your instructions or warning you that you’ve been hacked.

Real World BEC Attacks

This attack isn’t uncommon and the results are costly. Here are just a few medium-sized businesses that paid the price.

  • Xoom Corporation – BEC scammers emailed an employee from the CEO’s account and convinced them to wire $30M to a business overseas under the disguise of a business deal
  • Scoular Corporation – Employees wired an undisclosed amount to China for a fake acquisition deal. The email said, “We need the company to be funded properly and to show sufficient strength to the Chinese… I will not forget your professionalism in this deal, and I will show you my appreciation very shortly.”
  • Ubiquiti Networks – This San Jose company’s employee wired $46M at the “CEO’s” instruction. They were only able to recover $8M.

How to Protect Your Company from BEC Cybersecurity Threats

First of all, know that the CEO may not be the only target. It could be the CFO, CMO or even middle management.

They often attack companies using Office 365, which is relatively easy to breach if extra precautions aren’t taken. They gain access to your email via simple tricks like getting you to share your password on a spoofed 365 website.

Deploy education and technology to both prevent someone hacking a CEO email and to quickly identify when you or someone in the company has been compromised. This might include:

  • Powerful spam filters
  • Monitoring software
  • Malware protection and firewall
  • Security awareness training
  • Other customized solutions to maximize security

Above all, stay informed. Follow our blog to learn more about keeping your company safe from very real and sneaky cybersecurity threats like these.

Schedule your No-Obligation IT Assessment with Palindrome Consulting

Schedule Now

Elizabeth Mitrani
Elizabeth Mitrani
17:23 06 Aug 19
Palindrome Consulting was key in establishing my business and helps me keep it running. They are the consummate... professionals, incredibly knowledgeable and are always available to help. They have gone above and beyond to ensure that I was up and running quickly and that any issues that may arise on my end or dealt with immediately. I highly recommend Palindrome Consulting.read more
Moshe Rubinstein
Moshe Rubinstein
14:57 28 Jun 19
They are there every step of the way. Responsive and timely. The full service mentality mixed with the problem solving... abilities, is what makes them an easy choice.read more
Benjamin Wainberg
Benjamin Wainberg
14:09 28 Jun 19
Palindrome Consulting is customer centric. For Palindrome Data Safety is paramount; they keep their and our systems... updated with the newest technologies and are not shy at changing to better alternatives. Their platforms are always running and in the odd case there is an event, their technical team has an awesome response time.read more
Copier Man
Copier Man
13:56 28 Jun 19
We have been using Palindrome since 2005. They make my company feel like we are #1 all the time. Expert staff are... always available to help all my users all around the country.read more
Martin Feldman
Martin Feldman
16:43 26 Jun 19
As a partner in Fischer & Feldman, P.A. we have utilized Palindrome Consulting as our IT experts for many years. In... addition to keeping our server up and running, they are available to consult on the everchanging cloud and web landscape. We could not function as a successful law firm without their constant care, attention and almost IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TIME.read more
Rebecca Fischer
Rebecca Fischer
16:39 26 Jun 19
Palindrome has been my IT company for more than 15 years. We have been through four server and computer replacements... over the years all of which went smoothly. As technology has changed Palindrome has kept us current in their recommendations and are extremely responsive when we run into a software or hardware problem. We have been through hurricanes with Palindrome and felt confident they would have us up and running as quickly as possible and despite the fact we are probably a smaller client, they have treated us as one of their most important clients. I highly recommend Palindrome and have complete confidence in their capabilities and service. They have even gone the extra mile when we wanted to donate our old computers to a children's special needs school and delivered the computers, set them up and provided service for the same. Ilan Sredni is the consummate professional and has surrounded himself with top professionals and skilled technicians.read more
Nelson T
Nelson T
20:32 25 Jun 19
Palindrome Consulting has proven itself time and time again to be the epitome of professionalism and technical... expertise. They take the time to listen to your needs and then apply their wealth of technical knowledge to create truly innovative and robust solutions. They truly deliver piece of mind.read more
Next Reviews
js_loader