Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank Closures Could Lead to a Surge in Cyber Attacks

At-Bay’s claims data shows that approximately 40% of phishing emails use impersonation tactics, posing as vendors known to the insured¹. With the recent closures of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, we are anticipating a surge in these types of financial fraud attempts.

Because this event has created high levels of urgency and anxiety in the financial markets, it is highly likely that attackers will take advantage of the burden on finance teams to sneak in fraudulent requests to change billing details.

SVB And Signature Bank Clients Are Not The Only Businesses At Risk

Even if your company does not do business directly with SVB or Signature Bank, you could have vendors or business partners that do. These relationships may be exploited by cyber criminals to entice businesses to disclose sensitive information, change payment account details, or even fraudulently transfer money under false pretenses.

As a result, it is crucial to remain vigilant and take precautionary measures to protect your business from such attacks.

How To Prevent Financial Fraud Attacks

One of the best ways to prevent financial fraud attacks is to use a confirmation method that is not email-based. Here are some steps that can be taken to ensure that any request to change billing details is genuine:

1. Ask for information known to the actual vendor only, such as the exact amount paid last time and the exact date of payment. This will help to verify the authenticity of the request.
2. Use email search to check that the message with the request to change matches exactly the email addresses used by the vendor in the past. In many cases, a visual confirmation can be misleading due to difficult-to-spot changes in spelling. For example, it is not easy to visually distinguish between audible.com and audlble.com. An email search can help distinguish fraudulent email addresses even if they appear legitimate at first glance.
3. Call the vendor by finding their phone number online or using the phone number you have saved in your records to verify the email’s origin. This will help to confirm that the email is genuine. Do not rely on any phone number included in the email, which could be fraudulent.
4. Postpone any changes until you actually need to pay. Fraudulent accounts are likely to be closed over time, and delaying the changes can help to prevent any financial losses.

At At-Bay, we understand the importance of cyber security and the potential impact that cyber attacks can have on your business. We encourage you to remain vigilant and take necessary precautions to protect your business from any potential threats.

Read more about common types of financial fraud and how to avoid them.

Footnotes

1. Source: At-Bay claims data 2021-2022