‘Bogus Boss’ email scams on the rise in Bristol.
True to the wider trend across the UK, we have noticed an increase in the number of ‘CEO Fraud’ or ‘Bogus Boss’ email scams in Bristol.
The scam emails look as though they have been sent by the MD, CEO, or another high-level manager, they are usually sent to the accountant and they invariably request that large sums of money be transferred out of the company account.
Sometimes the emails are accompanied by a phone call from a fictional assistant who warns the accountant that a request is about to come through from the CEO. This faux-call is unlikely to work in smaller organisations where everybody knows who works for the company, but in larger offices you might not be able to tell who is a genuine employee.
A huge number of security breaches are successful because of human error, not the technical skills of a hacker.
Emails are one of the main points of entry for viruses and malware. Business owners should train their employees on standard security protocol to reduce the risk of human error. Standard security measures include reporting suspicious emails to your IT provider, keeping anti-virus software up to date, and not following links from email addresses you do not recognise.
Several of our clients have avoided the ‘bogus boss’ scam by contacting us before they acted on the email. We were then able to confirm that it was a fraudulent communication and check their systems for security breaches.
Often these emails are an isolated incident and not connected to a deeper security issue. However, in some cases a keylogger virus has been downloaded onto a company computer which has allowed the hackers to access confidential information.
One of the benefits of a Managed IT Service is that we hold records of all the company email handles and will instantly recognise a fake address. We can also take steps to protect your company from further attacks, and clean up your systems if they have been infiltrated.
If you are concerned about the security of your business, call us today on 0117 369 4335.
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