What is business email compromise (BEC)?

Business email compromise is a form of fraud where an attacker impersonates a trusted contact, typically an executive, vendor, or supplier, to trick employees into transferring funds, sharing sensitive data, or changing payment details. The FBI IC3 reported US$3.05 billion in BEC losses in 2025, making it one of the most financially damaging cyber threats.

How do you know if a payment request is a BEC scam?

Red flags include requests to change banking details, urgency or pressure to act quickly, unusual payment methods or destinations, slight variations in sender email addresses, and requests to bypass normal approval processes. Always verify any payment changes by calling the requester on a phone number you already have on file.

Why do BEC attacks bypass email filters?

BEC emails typically contain no malware, suspicious links, or attachments. They are plain text messages that look like routine business correspondence. Because there is nothing technically malicious to detect, traditional email security tools often let them through.

How effective is staff training at preventing BEC?

Staff training is one of the most effective controls when combined with verification procedures. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recommends employee awareness training as a baseline control (BC.6), with specific focus on recognizing urgency and authority pressure. Training should emphasize that no matter who an email appears to come from, payment changes require phone verification.

Elevating Your Email Security: A Battle Against Emerging Threats

How do you protect your company from business email compromise?

Business email compromise (BEC) caused US$3.05 billion in reported losses in 2025, according to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. In Canada, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre reported CA$67.9 million in spear phishing losses (the category that includes BEC) from 813 reports in 2025. These attacks work because they impersonate trusted contacts and ask for routine-looking actions, not because they exploit software flaws. The following six steps, drawn from guidance by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security and FBI IC3, can prevent most BEC losses:

Enable multi-factor authentication on all mailboxes. MFA prevents attackers from logging into compromised accounts and sending BEC emails from inside your organization. The CCCS lists strong authentication (BC.5) as a baseline control for all Canadian businesses.
Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These email authentication protocols make it harder for attackers to spoof your domain or your vendors' domains. Ask your IT provider to configure them with a "reject" or "quarantine" policy, not just monitoring.
Verify payment changes by phone on a number on file. Before updating any vendor's banking details, call the vendor using a phone number you already have on record, not the number in the email requesting the change. This single step defeats most vendor payment fraud.
Enable external sender tagging. Configure your mail system to display a visible banner on all emails originating from outside your organization. This visual cue reminds staff that a message claiming to be from an internal executive may actually be external.
Require two-person approval for payments above a threshold. No single employee should be able to both approve a vendor change and execute the payment. Dual authorization means an attacker would need to compromise two people to succeed.
Train staff specifically on BEC, not just generic phishing. BEC emails are often well-written, reference real invoices, and ask for routine actions. Train accounts payable staff to treat any request to change banking details as a verification trigger, regardless of how professional the email looks. The Cybersecurity Canada guide to BEC covers the full attack chain.

Introduction

In the digital age, email remains a critical communication channel for businesses, but it's also a prime target for cybercriminals. With the rise of collaboration apps as an emerging attack vector, fortifying your email security has never been more important.

The Shifting Landscape of Email Threats:

Collaboration apps, heralded for enhancing productivity and communication, have inadvertently become a new conduit for cyber attacks. Threat actors exploit these platforms to spread malware, launch phishing attacks, and breach sensitive data. It's imperative for businesses to proactively address these emerging threats to prevent potentially catastrophic consequences.

As we know, the majority of cyber attacks targeting businesses start with a single malicious email. To keep business operations running securely, Check Point Avanan emerges as a formidable solution, standing at the forefront of email security innovation. With its comprehensive suite of features, Avanan is designed to provide businesses with a multi-layered defense against the evolving email threat landscape.

Key Features of Cyber Unit's email security solution:

Real-Time Protection: Avanan's advanced threat detection capabilities actively monitor email traffic in real-time, identifying and neutralizing malicious content before it reaches the inbox.
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AI-Driven Insights: Harnessing the power of AI, Avanan continuously learns from vast amounts of data to accurately predict and thwart emerging threats, even those with zero-day attributes.
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Automated Incident Response: Avanan automates incident response, enabling swift action to quarantine malicious emails and containing potential threats.
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Cloud-native Security: With a cloud-native architecture, Avanan seamlessly integrates with collaboration apps like Office 365 and G Suite, ensuring uninterrupted workflow without compromising security.
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User-Friendly Interface: It's intuitive interface empowers IT administrators to easily configure policies, monitor threats, and gain actionable insights for enhanced security posture.
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Data Loss Prevention: It's robust data loss prevention capabilities prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, ensuring regulatory compliance and business continuity.
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Threat Intelligence: It's threat intelligence network aggregates data from millions of emails daily, providing real-time insights into emerging threats globally.

Conclusion:

As collaboration apps continue to redefine workplace communication, they also pose new challenges for email security.

Safeguarding your business demands a proactive approach, and Check Point Avanan rises to the occasion as a powerful email security tool. With real-time protection, AI-driven insights, and cloud-native architecture, it empowers businesses to mitigate emerging threats and fortify their defenses against cyber attacks.

Embrace Cyber Unit's email security today to protect your organization's digital assets and ensure a secure communication environment in an ever-evolving cyber landscape.

Get in touch with us today!