At first glance, the water appears perfectly still.
That's what makes Shark Week so compelling year after year: the real threat is never obvious on the surface. It's already moving below.
Cybercriminals work the same way. Today's attacks are built to blend into routine business activity until money is moved, systems fail or someone realizes it's too late.
And during the summer months, when routines change, employees travel and oversight naturally weakens, attackers know companies are paying less attention.
Here are three threats they're using right now.
1. Fake invoices and vendor impersonation
Hackers don't always need to break in. Often, one convincing email is enough.
This type of attack is known as business email compromise (BEC). The criminal poses as a vendor, supplier or executive your team already recognizes and trusts.
The message looks legitimate, a payment gets sent to the wrong place, and by the time the fraud is discovered, the loss has already happened.
These scams increase during vacation season for a clear reason. When the person who normally approves payments is away, requests often get rerouted to someone unfamiliar with standard processes. Temporary coverage can make it easier for attackers to push urgency without being challenged.
The best defense is easy to put in place: create a verification step for any financial request received by email. A quick call to a trusted, pre-approved number — not the one in the email — can stop most fraudulent requests before they succeed.
2. Phishing attacks aimed at distracted employees
Phishing works because it targets people when they're rushed, busy or mentally elsewhere.
Attackers intentionally create that moment. A distracted employee gets a password reset alert and clicks the link. Someone receives a text that appears to be from IT. An email arrives just before a meeting with an urgent wire transfer request. In the moment, verifying feels slower than acting — and that's exactly what criminals count on.
The strongest protection isn't only technology; it's a workplace culture that encourages people to pause when something feels off.
Employees should feel confident slowing down when they notice:
· An unexpected login request
· A payment instruction that appears out of nowhere
· A link in an email they weren't expecting
Attackers use speed against you. Taking a moment to verify takes that advantage away.
3. Third-party risks that spread quickly
When a vendor with access to your systems is compromised, the risk doesn't stay with them. It can move straight into your environment through the connection they have to your business.
That's supply chain exposure, and most companies have far more of it than they realize. Connected software, service providers with stored credentials and contractors whose access was never removed after a project ended all create openings that are often overlooked.
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 responsible for managing those relationships?
If those answers aren't clear, your business may be carrying more risk than you think.
By the time you notice it, it's already in motion
Sharks don't warn you before they strike, and neither do the cybercriminals targeting your business today.
The organizations that get hit aren't always the ones ignoring obvious red flags. More often, they're the ones that assume everything is fine because nothing looks unusual.
Summer is when schedules loosen, attention drifts and the water looks calmest. It's also when attackers stay most active.
We help businesses identify exposure across vendors, employee behavior and everyday operations before small issues become expensive incidents.
If you're not sure where your business stands, schedule a 15-Minute Discovery Call.
Click here or give us a call at 801-356-9333 to schedule your free 15-Minute Discovery Call.
