Protecting What You’ve Built: The Cyber Risks That Come With Success

The Most Common Attacks We See Against Established Businesses

Most cyber incidents don’t start with sophisticated hacking tools. They start with everyday business communication being abused in ways that are easy to miss — especially in busy, growing organizations.

These are the attacks we see most often targeting successful businesses.

Executive & Owner Impersonation Scams

These attacks usually start with a short, urgent message — often by text, sometimes by email.

It might say something as simple as, “Are you available?” or “I need you to handle something quickly.” The message appears to come from an owner or executive and is designed to trigger a fast response without verification.

Once the conversation starts, the attacker escalates the urgency, asking for gift cards, payments, or confidential information. The goal isn’t to trick technology — it’s to bypass normal approval processes by leaning on authority and time pressure.

Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scams

Business email compromise is one of the most damaging cyber threats facing established companies today.

In a BEC scam, attackers either gain access to a real employee email account or convincingly impersonate one. From there, they monitor internal conversations, learn how approvals work, and wait for the right moment to intervene.

Common BEC scenarios include:

• Requests to change vendor payment instructions

• Emails approving wire or ACH transfers

• “Updated banking information” sent during ongoing projects

Because these emails align with real conversations and real people, they rarely raise immediate suspicion.

Compromised Employee Email Accounts

One compromised inbox can expose far more than most businesses realize.

When an employee’s email account is taken over, attackers often sit quietly in the background. They read messages, identify who handles payments or payroll, and map out internal workflows before ever making a move.

Finance, HR, and operations roles are especially valuable targets, but any account with access to internal conversations can be used as a foothold. The longer the compromise goes unnoticed, the more damaging the outcome tends to be.

Payroll Direct Deposit Change Fraud

Payroll fraud is a common outcome of both impersonation and email compromise.

Attackers submit requests that appear to come from real employees asking to update direct deposit information. These requests often arrive during busy periods — onboarding, bonuses, or payroll processing days — when teams are focused on speed.

Without strict verification processes, a single change can redirect multiple paychecks before anyone notices.

Wire and ACH Redirection Fraud

Wire and ACH fraud typically targets vendor payments.

Attackers impersonate trusted vendors or hijack existing email threads, sending updated payment instructions that look routine. These messages often arrive just before a scheduled payment, creating pressure to act quickly.

Once funds are transferred, recovery is difficult and sometimes impossible.

Why Smart Businesses Still Fall for These Attacks

When these incidents happen, it’s easy to assume someone made a careless mistake. In reality, most of the businesses affected are well-run, staffed by capable people who are doing their jobs under pressure.

Modern cyberattacks aren’t designed to defeat technology — they’re designed to exploit trust.

Attackers rely on situations that feel familiar: a request from a known name, a payment that looks routine, or a message that arrives at exactly the wrong time. When urgency is introduced, even experienced employees can bypass normal caution in an effort to be helpful or efficient.

Several factors make successful businesses more vulnerable:

• Trust-based workflows that prioritize speed and efficiency

• Delegated decision-making, especially around finance and operations

• Busy leadership teams that aren’t always available to verify requests

• Email as the default approval channel for sensitive actions

In many cases, the real weakness isn’t the employee or the technology — it’s the lack of clearly enforced processes. Without defined verification steps, employees are forced to rely on judgment in moments where attackers are deliberately applying pressure.

That’s why these attacks don’t feel like obvious scams until after the damage is done. They blend into normal business activity, making them difficult to spot without strong guardrails in place.

Non-Negotiable Rules for Protecting What You’ve Built

As businesses grow, protection can’t rely on instinct or good intentions. It has to be built into everyday operations. These rules exist to remove uncertainty, protect employees from making high-pressure decisions, and safeguard the business as a whole.

Never Accept Payroll Changes by Email Alone

Payroll is one of the most common targets for fraud because it combines urgency with trust.

All payroll changes should be made through your payroll provider’s secure employee portal — not by email, text, or verbal request. Just as important, employers should not make changes on behalf of employees.

If an employee changes their own banking information through the portal, responsibility stays with them. If someone internally makes the change based on an email request, the liability shifts to the business. This single rule eliminates a large percentage of payroll fraud risk.

Lock Down Employee Email Accounts Properly

Email is the front door to your business operations. If attackers gain access to even one inbox, they can observe conversations, impersonate employees, and time their attacks precisely.

Every employee email account should be protected with multi-factor authentication, with additional safeguards for owners, executives, finance, and HR roles. Just as important is monitoring for unusual login behavior so compromises are detected early — before damage is done.

No Wire or ACH Changes Without Verbal Verification

Any request to change payment instructions should be treated as high-risk by default.

Verification must happen using a known, trusted phone number — never one provided in the email requesting the change. There should be no exceptions for urgency, timing, or authority. If the process can’t be completed properly, the transaction waits.

Consistency is what makes this rule effective. One exception is all attackers need.

Treat Text Messages and “Quick Requests” as Untrusted

Text messages are increasingly used to impersonate owners and executives because they feel informal and urgent.

Requests involving money, credentials, or sensitive data should never be handled through text alone. Verification through a second channel should be required every time, especially for messages claiming to come from leadership.

These guardrails don’t slow businesses down — they prevent expensive mistakes and protect employees from being put in impossible situations.

The Leadership Mindset Shift That Comes With Success

At a certain point, leadership isn’t just about growth — it’s about stewardship. Protecting what you’ve built becomes just as important as building it in the first place.

Successful business owners understand that risk doesn’t disappear as companies mature; it changes. Informal processes that worked when the business was smaller can quietly become liabilities as teams expand, responsibilities are delegated, and money moves faster.

The mindset shift is recognizing that security isn’t a lack of trust in your people. It’s a framework that protects them. Clear rules, verification steps, and guardrails remove guesswork and prevent employees from having to make judgment calls under pressure.

Strong leadership also means acknowledging that cyber risk is now a business risk — not just an IT issue. The financial, legal, and reputational impact of a single incident can outweigh years of incremental growth if it isn’t addressed proactively.

Owners who make this shift aren’t pessimistic or paranoid. They’re prepared. They understand that systems and processes scale better than instincts, and that protecting the business today ensures it can continue to grow tomorrow.