Business Email Compromise (BEC)

Business Email Compromise (BEC) cybercrime is growing in popularity…and complexity. INKY stops these hard-to-detect attacks from wreaking havoc on your organization.

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What is Business Email Compromise?

Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a term that covers a set of behaviors having to do with how criminals impersonate a trusted figure or institution, gain access to an organization’s email system, target an individual with access to important assets (money, intellectual property), study their habits, style, and social graph, and, finally, fool that individual into compromising the organization (divulging secrets, sending money).

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Why should you be concerned?

BEC is a concern for everyone since any organization can be subject to a successful BEC attack. BEC methods are well understood by phishers, BEC tools are readily available on the darknet, and the risk-reward equation is favorable to phishers. To them, the cost of a campaign failure is close to zero, the risk is low because they can launch an attack without exposing themselves personally, and the potential payout is high. The FBI reports that victim’s losses due to cybercrime in 2024 totaled $2.7 billion. Read What the FBI's Latest Report Reveals About Email Threats in 2025 to learn more about this growing threat facing businesses.

How does INKY protect against BEC attacks?

INKY’s approach to anti-phishing technology stops BEC attacks in their tracks. Immediately after installation, INKY begins to track who sends an email to whom, establishing a social graph. And not just who is sending, but what their attributes are.

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INKY is always learning, always monitoring, and knows your users

Using computer vision, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, INKY provides a level of ingenuity that is unlike other email security platforms. INKY sees things the way humans do, recognizing logos, brand colors, email signatures, and more — but it also sees the millions of things humans can’t, spotting imposters in an instant.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a sophisticated form of email phishing for the purposes of financial fraud. With this type of cybercrime, the hacker impersonates a high-level executive in order to trick a targeted subordinate employee into parting with company funds – usually in the form of transferring money or paying a fictitious invoice.

The answer is simple. Business Email Compromise (BEC) has the potential to generate large amounts of money in a short amount of time. In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 21,000 reports of BEC, totaling more than $2.7 billion in losses.¹
¹Source: https://www.ic3.gov/Media/PDF/AnnualReport/2024_IC3Report.pdf

BEC attacks generally follow a multi-step process:

Research: Attackers gather information about the target organization and its personnel.
Grooming: They build trust by engaging in benign conversations or mimicking communication styles.
Exploitation: Once trust is established, attackers make fraudulent requests, such as wire transfers or sensitive data disclosures.
Execution: The victim complies, resulting in financial loss or data breach.

These steps are often facilitated by careful study of the organization's communication patterns and hierarchies.

When to comes to stopping Business Email Compromise (BEC), the first line of defense should be partnering with a strong email security service. INKY delivers the industry’s leading anti-phishing software, which is your best defense in the fight against imposter emails and CEO fraud. Unlike most anti-phishing software, INKY doesn’t rely on examining URLs and sender addresses to stop phishing emails. INKY’s brand forgery detection software uses AI and Computer Vision to detect company logos and determine from whom the email pretends to originate.

For those who don’t have email security software, keep in mind that you shouldn’t rely on email alone, especially when it comes to big, suspicious, or out-of-character transactions. Walk over to your CEO office and discuss the request face-to-face. If you’re worried about looking silly, just imagine how you’ll look if something goes wrong. The simple mention of potential cybercrime―or the suggestion of an email security solution―should make any CEO grateful to have a conscientious employee.

While any employee can be targeted, attackers often focus on:

Executives: To impersonate and lend credibility to fraudulent requests.
Finance personnel: Who have authority over fund transfers.
Human Resources staff: For accessing personal employee information.
IT administrators: To gain broader system access.

The goal is to exploit individuals with access to sensitive information or financial controls.

To protect against BEC attacks, organizations should:

Implement email security solutions: Use platforms like INKY that offer advanced threat detection.
Conduct regular training: Educate employees about recognizing and reporting suspicious emails.
Establish verification protocols: Require confirmation for financial transactions through multiple channels, including in-person when it is an option.
Monitor communication patterns: Be vigilant for unusual requests or deviations from standard procedures.

By combining technological defenses with employee awareness, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of BEC incidents.

Unlike generic phishing, which often involves mass-sent emails with malicious links or attachments, BEC is highly targeted and relies on social engineering. Attackers invest time in researching their victims and crafting personalized messages that appear legitimate, making BEC harder to detect and more dangerous.

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