At first glance, the water seems perfectly still.
That's exactly what makes Shark Week so compelling every year: the real threat isn't visible on the surface. It's already moving below.
Cybercriminals work the same way. Today's attacks are built to blend into everyday business activity until the moment a payment is redirected, a system fails or money disappears.
And during the summer, when routines shift, staff members take vacation and oversight naturally loosens, attackers know businesses are paying less attention.
Here are three threats that are circling right now.
1. Bogus invoices and vendor impersonation
Hackers don't always need to break in. Often, they only need to send one convincing email.
That tactic is known as business email compromise (BEC), and it relies on pretending to be a vendor, supplier or executive your team already recognizes.
The message looks legitimate, someone on your team pays the "vendor," and by the time the fraud is discovered, the funds are already gone.
These scams increase during vacation season for a simple reason: when the person who normally approves payments is away, requests get passed to someone who may not know the usual process. Temporary replacements are less likely to challenge urgency, and attackers count on that.
A simple safeguard can stop most of these attacks: create a verification step for every financial request sent by email. A quick callback to a trusted number, not the one in the message, can shut down the fraud before any money moves.
2. Phishing attacks aimed at distracted employees
Phishing succeeds because it is designed around how people act when they're busy.
Cybercriminals plan for those exact moments. A rushed employee sees a password reset alert and clicks. Someone receives a text that appears to come from IT. An urgent email arrives right before a meeting asking for wire approval. In the rush, no one pauses to verify it because slowing down feels inconvenient.
The strongest defense isn't just technology; it's awareness.
Employees should feel comfortable taking a moment when something seems unusual:
· An unexpected login request
· A payment instruction that came out of nowhere
· A link in an email they weren't expecting
Attackers depend on speed. When your team slows down, you take that advantage away.
3. Third-party risk that spreads quickly
When a vendor with access to your systems is compromised, the threat doesn't stay with them. It can move straight into your environment through the connection they already have to your business.
This is supply chain exposure, and many businesses have far more of it than they realize. Connected software tools, service providers holding credentials and contractors whose access was never revoked after a project ended can all create paths into your network that no one has fully mapped.
Outsourcing a service does not outsource responsibility.
To understand your supply chain exposure, you need clear answers to three questions:
1. Which vendors can access your data or systems?
2. What are they connected to?
3. Who inside your organization is accountable for managing those relationships?
If those answers aren't clear, your business may already be more exposed than you think.
By the time you notice it, it's already moving
Sharks don't announce themselves, and neither do the cybercriminals targeting your business right now.
The companies that get hit are not always the ones ignoring obvious warning signs. More often, they're the ones assuming everything is fine because nothing looks wrong.
Summer brings loose schedules, divided attention and calmer-looking waters. It also brings a bigger opportunity for attackers.
We help businesses get a clear view of their exposure across vendors, employee activity and everyday operations before a problem turns into damage.
If you don't know where your business stands, schedule a 15-Minute Discovery Call.
Click here or give us a call at 702-896-7207 to schedule your free 15-Minute Discovery Call.
