At first glance, the water looks peaceful.
That's exactly what makes Shark Week so gripping every year: the danger isn't obvious on the surface. It's already moving below.
Cybercriminals work the same way. The threats facing businesses today are built to look like routine activity until the moment a payment is approved, data is exposed, or systems stop working.
And during summer, when teams are traveling, schedules shift and oversight becomes thinner, attackers know companies are easier to catch off guard.
Here are three threats circling right now.
1. Counterfeit invoices and vendor impersonation
Attackers often don't need to break into anything. Sometimes, all it takes is one convincing email.
That tactic is known as business email compromise (BEC), and it works by posing as a vendor, supplier or executive your staff already recognizes and trusts.
The message appears legitimate, someone on your team sends the payment, and by the time the fraud is discovered, the money is gone.
These attacks rise during vacation season for a reason. When the person who normally approves payments is unavailable, requests get forwarded to someone who may not know the normal process. A temporary replacement is less likely to challenge urgency, and attackers count on that hesitation.
The best defense is easy to put in place: create a verification step for every financial request that arrives by email. A quick call to a trusted number, not the one included in the message, can prevent most of these scams before any damage is done.
2. Phishing campaigns aimed at distracted employees
Phishing works because it exploits how people respond when they're busy.
Cybercriminals plan for those moments. A distracted employee receives a password reset alert and clicks. Someone gets a text that looks like it came from IT. An urgent email shows up just before a meeting asking for wire transfer approval. Few people stop to verify because pausing feels like falling behind.
The strongest protection isn't just technology, it's awareness and culture.
Employees should feel empowered to slow down when something seems suspicious:
· An unexpected login request
· A payment instruction that appears out of nowhere
· A link in an email they weren't expecting
Attackers rely on speed. When your team slows down and verifies, you take that advantage away.
3. Third-party risks that spread quickly
When a vendor with access to your systems is compromised, the problem doesn't stay with them. It can move straight into your environment through the access they already have.
That's supply chain exposure, and most businesses 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 can all create openings that business owners never fully map.
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 is carrying unnecessary risk.
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 businesses right now.
The companies that get hit aren't always the ones that ignore obvious red flags. More often, they're the ones that assume everything is fine because nothing appears to be wrong.
Summer is when routines loosen, attention fades and the water looks calmest. It's also when attackers become more active.
We help businesses identify exposure across vendors, employee behavior and daily operations before a threat turns into a costly incident.
If you don't know where your business stands, schedule a 15-Minute Discovery Call.
Click here or give us a call at 303-415-2702 to schedule your free 15-Minute Discovery Call.
