Cybersecurity Glossary
Business Email Compromise
Fraud in which an attacker uses, or convincingly imitates, a real business mailbox to redirect a payment.
What Business Email Compromise means
In a business email compromise the attacker either takes over a genuine mailbox or registers a lookalike domain. They watch a real invoice conversation, wait for the moment payment is due, then send updated bank details. Because the thread is real and the timing is right, the request rarely raises suspicion.
Why Business Email Compromise matters for small businesses and nonprofits
This is the most expensive category of cybercrime for small organisations by value, because the money leaves by bank transfer and is very rarely recovered. It needs no malware and no technical vulnerability, which is why security software alone does not stop it.
What to do about Business Email Compromise
- Confirm every change of bank details by voice on a number you already held
- Register the obvious lookalike versions of your own domain
- Alert on mailbox rules that auto forward or auto delete, a common sign of takeover
Not sure where you stand on this?
We review your current setup against the basics, tell you plainly what is covered and what is not, and give you a ranked list with effort and cost. No jargon and no scare tactics.