The democratisation of business email compromise fraud

This week, Martin tells the story of a crime he encountered and how it shows that the threat landscape is changing.

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Threat Source newsletter. Last weekend, I witnessed a crime. Not a notable crime that you might read about in the press, but an unremarkable fraud attempt that nevertheless illustrates how new threat actor capabilities are emerging. I imagine that most people reading this probably field IT questions from friends, family, and your local community. I assist with the IT provision for a local community association. It’s not a wealthy, large association — just your typical volunteer-run nonprofit like many others in the region providing community services.

This weekend, the chair emailed the treasurer requesting a bank transfer. The treasurer replied asking for the recipient's details, and the chair promptly responded. The emails appeared authentic: correct names, a sum consistent with the association's regular expenditure.