A 5-stage attack chain. Each stage creates the conditions for the next. Interrupting any link breaks the kill chain.
Attackers mine OSINT, breached credential databases, and social media to map the bank's org structure, identify wire-authorized personnel, and map vendor payment cycles.
Lookalike domains and compromised vendor accounts deliver precisely crafted messages that bypass SPF/DKIM/DMARC and impersonate trusted senders.
Urgency, authority pressure, and invoice pretexts override the recipient's normal verification reflexes, triggering action on the fraudulent request.
A fraudulent wire, ACH batch change, or payroll diversion is executed through the bank's own systems by an authorized user acting on the deceptive instruction.
Funds are layered through mule networks, converted to cryptocurrency via mixers, and dissipated beyond recovery within hours of the initial transfer.
Kill chain logic: Each stage is a gating function. Without reconnaissance, the phish has no target. Without the phish, there is no response. Disrupt any single stage and the attack fails.
Why traditional controls fail against BEC - and what attackers exploit at each layer of the defense stack.
Critical blind spot
Every method above targets the same gap: traditional email security inspects artifacts (files, URLs, signatures), not behavior. BEC attacks that carry no artifact and exploit only human trust are invisible to the entire legacy SEG stack. Closing this gap requires behavioral detection, conversation analysis, and user-centric controls - not just better filters.
Our phishing incident response architecture - from detection through strategic alignment.
Incoming phish reports and automated alerts are triaged. The analyst team validates the threat, extracts IoCs, and determines scope.
Confirmed BEC incidents are escalated. The incident team activates the Computer Security Incident Response Plan and begins formal documentation.
The war room coordinates cross-functional response: blocking IoCs, freezing affected accounts, and managing communications with the business units.
Post-incident findings are distilled into strategic recommendations. The board receives monthly threat briefings, trend analysis, and control improvement plans.
IR maturity model: Each phase feeds the next. Detection quality determines escalation accuracy. Escalation speed determines containment effectiveness. Post-incident review closes the loop, hardening the controls for the next attempt.