Someone is sending messages from your business email address

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Your email has been hacked …

You notice a number of your customers haven't paid the last few bills you've sent them, and when you call one of them they tell you they paid on time, as usual, to the new account details you emailed them last quarter - only you didn't send the email.

If the wrong person is able to send emails with your email address, they can ask your suppliers and customers to do all sorts of things by impersonating you. It can be trivial for hackers to send email as you or anyone in your business if you haven't taken a few important steps to make sure no one but you can act as you.

 

How could this happen?

Some of the most common ways small business email accounts are hacked.

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You’re socially engineered into transferring money
You’re socially engineered into transferring money

Social Engineering describes the use of deception to manipulate you into doing something you wouldn't ordinarily do - like transferring large amounts of cash to a cyber criminal. While social engineering tricks and techniques continue to evolve, there are things you can do to reduce your chances of your team falling victim.

A known password is used to access your account
A known password is used to access your account

Remembering the dozens, if not hundreds, of passwords that give us access to the technologies we use everyday is a seemingly impossible task. Sometimes it’s just easier to use the same password or something simple and easy to remember. Cyber criminals know this and will often look for the passwords used elsewhere to hack you and your team.

How could this harm us?

Your business could be impacted if someone start sending messages from your email accounts.

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Money you were tricked into paying can't be recovered
Money you were tricked into paying can't be recovered

If you are deceived into transferring money or assets to the wrong person it can be really hard, and sometimes impossible, to recover your losses. There are some steps you can take to reduce how much this impacts your business though.

You spend time responding to an incident instead of working in your business
You spend time responding to an incident instead of working in your business

When you know something is wrong, you often don't actually know what is causing it or how bad it is. With a cyber incident, you'll usually need the help of specialist investigators or forensic auditors to conduct a review or audit to figure out what's happened and how bad the situation is. You might also need help restoring, recreating, or replacing your data. This expertise doesn't come cheap, but there are steps you can take to keep associated costs from destroying your bottom line.

 

Get all the answers and start dealing with your small business cybersecurity risks today with a Cynch Membership …

 

… or checkout our 6-week Cyber Boot Camp program to kick start your journey to a cyber fit business.

Adam SelwoodEmail