Business email compromise is when a criminal gets into, or imitates, a mailbox to redirect payments. For Austin firms that send invoices, pay vendors or move client funds by wire, one convincing email can cost more than a year of IT.
Who gets targeted in Austin
Semiconductor and hardware suppliers around North Austin and the Interstate 35 corridor run shop-floor PCs and ERP systems that must stay up. Government contractors and defense suppliers in Central Texas need CMMC preparation alongside daily IT. Law firms and nonprofits downtown need secure document access for staff who split time between home and office.
Firms like these send and receive payments by email every week, which is exactly what attackers look for.
How mailbox takeovers start
A stolen password, a fake login page or a look-alike domain lets an attacker read mail, set hidden forwarding rules and send payment requests that look real.
Locking down Microsoft 365
Multi-factor authentication, conditional access, safe sign-in settings and mail flow rules close the common ways in. Filtering catches look-alike domains and malicious links before they reach the inbox.
Texas data rules to know
Under Texas law, a business must notify affected people of a breach of their sensitive personal information within 60 days, and the Texas Attorney General within 30 days when 250 or more Texans are affected.
A hacked mailbox often holds customer records, so an email takeover can become a reportable breach.
Watching for takeover signs
We monitor for suspicious sign-ins, new forwarding rules, account changes and unusual sending patterns. During office hours an engineer acts on alerts by locking the account, resetting credentials and checking what was sent.
Office hours in Austin
Office hours for Austin clients are Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central. Email security services is part of full managed IT for Austin clients, delivered remote-first with on-site help coordinated when it is needed.
Read more about email security services or see all IT services in Austin.