The imitation game: how business email compromise scams are robbing organisations
Steve Mansfield-Devine · Computer Fraud & Security · 2016
Business email compromise (BEC) is rapidly increasing, defrauding organisations out of millions of dollars worth of funds every year and requiring little in the way of technical expertise. Also known as CEO fraud, the technical component of such attacks is often no more than a tool with which we're all familiar – email. In this interview with Oliver Fay, lead analyst at Context Information Security and his colleague Gareth Grindal, head of analysis, we examine why BEC is so prevalent, why it works and what organisations can do to protect themselves. While the information security world focuses much of its attention on technical vulnerabilities and exploits, with much of the discussion being around topics such as malware and hacking, there's one kind of attack that is rapidly increasing, defrauds organisations out of millions of dollars worth of funds every year and requires little in the way of technical expertise. In fact, the technical component of such attacks is often no more than a tool with which we're all familiar – email. In this interview with Oliver Fay, lead analyst at Context Information Security and his colleague Gareth Grindal, head of analysis, we look at the menace of business email compromise (BEC).