During the pandemic, technology and the internet connected people worlds apart, and for many, kept businesses of all sizes running, despite mandatory shut-down orders. While the internet provides limitless opportunities, it also poses significant risk to your company. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), theft of digital information has become the most commonly reported fraud, surpassing even physical theft. And with a record number of employees working from home, fraudsters are taking advantage of weaker home internet systems and remote work processes to infiltrate business networks. When sensitive information is stolen or financial accounts are hacked, the losses can be staggering.
Common scams include an employee using unsecure internet to access their networks, clicking on a fraudulent link in a suspicious email, or agreeing to wire money to an unverified person claiming to be a legitimate vendor. These types of transactions are often hard to detect as the payment types are not irregular and are made by authorized personnel. In today’s work-from-home environment, hackers are trying to take advantage of major video conference and collaboration tools such as Slack, Zoom and Microsoft teams by hacking into the systems.
In honor of October’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, here are three no-cost tips to safeguard your business’ intellectual property from fraudsters:
Consider your employees the first line of defense: Educate your employees on the types of fraud to look out for and train them on your company policies and procedures such as validation of payment requests or changes to existing payment instructions.
Diligence is key: Conduct reconciliation of all banking transactions on a daily basis to identify dubious activity and immediately notify your bank of suspicious transactions. Both actions will save you time and money.
Establish separation of duties for internal controls: Take another look at your company's internal controls. Do you have dual control over payment origination? Dual control requires a second set of eyes to review and confirm payments before they are released.
The bottom line? Even though business account fraud is becoming more prevalent and COVID-19 has created some new and enhanced fraud threats for your business, there are simple controls and procedures that your bank can help set up to protect your company. Talk to your bank to explore options to guard against fraudulent attacks on your company's bank accounts. Peace of mind is knowing you are doing all you can to keep your business and employees safe during COVID-19 and into the future.
