At first glance, the water looks peaceful.
That's what makes Shark Week such a compelling reminder every year: the real threat is rarely visible on the surface. It's already in motion beneath the calm.
Cybercriminals work the same way. Today's threats 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 months, when routines change, staff travel, and oversight naturally loosens, attackers know many businesses are paying less attention.
Here are three threats they're counting on right now.
1. Fake invoices and vendor impersonation
In many cases, attackers don't need to break into anything. They only need one convincing email.
This tactic, known as business email compromise (BEC), relies on pretending to be a vendor, supplier, or executive your team already trusts.
The message looks routine, someone sends the payment, and by the time the mistake is discovered, the money is already gone.
These attacks become especially effective during vacation season. When the person who usually approves payments is unavailable, requests are often rerouted to employees who don't know the normal process as well. Temporary coverage can make it easier for criminals to create urgency and avoid suspicion.
A simple safeguard can make a major difference: require verification for any financial request that arrives by email. A quick phone call to a trusted number, not the one in the message, can stop most fraudulent requests before they succeed.
2. Phishing attacks aimed at distracted employees
Phishing works because it targets people when they are busy, rushed, or mentally split between tasks.
Attackers plan for those moments. A distracted employee clicks a password reset link. A text message appears to come from IT. An email arrives just before a meeting asking for urgent wire approval. In the rush, verification gets skipped because slowing down feels inconvenient.
The strongest defense isn't just technology; it's a workplace culture that encourages pause and review.
Employees should feel confident stopping 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 rely on speed. When your team slows the process down, you take away one of their biggest advantages.
3. Third-party risks that spread quickly
If 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.
That's supply chain exposure, and most organizations have far more of it than they realize. Connected software tools, service providers with saved credentials, and contractors whose access was never removed after a project ended can all create openings that often go unnoticed.
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 manages those relationships?
If those answers aren't clear, your business is carrying unnecessary risk.
By the time you notice it, the threat is already in motion
Sharks don't announce themselves, and neither do the cybercriminals targeting your business today.
The companies that suffer the biggest losses aren't always the ones that ignored obvious warning signs. Often, they're the ones that assumed everything was fine because nothing looked wrong.
Summer is when schedules loosen, focus slips, and the water looks the calmest. It's also when attackers are often the most active.
We help businesses identify exposure across vendors, employee behavior, and daily operations before a problem turns into a costly incident.
If you don't know where your business stands, schedule a 10-Minute Discovery Call.
Click here or give us a call at 323-410-7785 to schedule your free 10-Minute Discovery Call.
