Guard Your Business From Corporate Account Takeovers

Your business is likely using digital solutions for any number of things—emailing vendors or customers, communicating between staff, storing sensitive data, and managing your finances. But what happens if cybercriminals gain access to any of these systems?

Corporate Account Takeovers (CATO) occur when someone gains unauthorized access to your financial accounts, payment systems, or data networks—and the results can be devastating: fraudulent wire transfers, unauthorized ACH payments, and data breaches.

Defending against CATO requires a layered, proactive security strategy that focuses equally on staff training, operational processes with strict controls, and informed and effective use of technology.

CATO is a persistent risk in the digital environment, and the number of attacks increases every year. These fraud attempts are frequent, financially damaging, and constantly evolving.

Businesses of all sizes face daily attempts, but mid-sized and smaller companies are often the most vulnerable. These firms may lack the extensive, dedicated security teams and robust systems common in large corporations, making them prime targets. Understanding this consistent, widespread risk is the first step toward building a successful defense.

Despite what is commonly seen on TV or in the movies, cybercriminals rarely rely on brute-force hacking. Instead, they leverage subtle psychological manipulation, known as social engineering, to bypass technological defenses.

Social engineering focuses on the humans that make up a business or organization. Attackers try to trick employees into compromising credentials or authorizing payments either by scaring them or by lulling them into a false sense of safety.

If you’ve ever gotten a spammy email warning of a compromised account, or a suspicious phone call claiming to be from your financial institution or a government office, you’ve experienced social engineering. Here are some of the attacks to watch out for:

Cybercriminals will also seek to exploit technical flaws, such as unpatched software and operating system weaknesses to gain initial access. Once inside, they may deploy malware like keyloggers or screen scrapers to silently capture the login credentials needed to execute the final account takeover.

The human element is often the weakest link in any security chain. Robust employee security training transforms your staff into your strongest line of defense.

Security training is a continuous process, not a one-and-done activity. Implement mandatory training programs for all employees, especially those who handle financial transactions or access sensitive data, and have annual or semi-annual refreshers to cover the basics and any major changes in the security landscape.

Educate staff on the specific warning signs of phishing, vishing, and smishing attempts. You can also test their knowledge by sending out dummy phishing emails to your staff as a gauge of what they’ve learned. If anyone clicks on a link or downloads an attachment, you’ll know where to focus your training efforts.

Foster a work environment where employees are not only allowed but required to question unexpected requests for sensitive information or urgent financial actions. While these requests for verification can add a small amount of time to your workday, the long-term savings in security will far outweigh any minor losses of time in the short term.

Make “out-of-band” verification mandatory. If a request for a payment or data comes via email, the employee must verify it through a different, known method, such as a direct phone call to the requester.

Your staff are only half of the equation. Having strong technological safeguards is essential for preventing unauthorized access to your business accounts. Think of it as locking your digital doors and managing who has access to your keys.

Multifactor authentication (MFA) is non-negotiable. Mandate using MFA for all business accounts, particularly digital banking portals, email, and administrative tools. MFA requires a second verification method (like a code from a phone) beyond the password, making it exponentially harder for a criminal to use stolen credentials.

Additionally, enforce a strict Password policy, requiring strong, unique passwords for all accounts, ideally managed via a secure password manager.

For system security, ensure all operating systems, web browsers, and critical applications are immediately updated, eliminating the known security vulnerabilities that criminals rely on to inject malware into your systems.

Be sure to utilize robust, up-to-date antivirus and anti-malware software across all company devices to prevent the silent installation of malicious software.

Finally, consider network segmentation—separating financial systems from general employee networks—to limit a criminal’s movement within your network should an employee computer be compromised.

By implementing strict, verifiable processes, you can stop fraudulent transactions before they are executed.

This practice is non-negotiable for high-risk functions. Dual control banking requires that two separate, authorized employees must independently initiate and approve every high-value transaction, including wire transfer fraud prevention and ACH security best practices.

Establish low daily and per-transaction spending limits on all online financial accounts. These limits should not be changeable without C-level management authorization.

Implement services like Positive Pay, Wire whitelisting, and ACH filters. These tools restrict transfers only to vendor accounts that you have explicitly pre-approved and verified, preventing funds from being diverted to criminal accounts. In addition, Positive Pay can help prevent fraud by requiring a second layer of verification to your transactions.

We offer a number of tools that can help prevent corporate account takeovers. Our online and mobile banking services are protected by multiple layers of security, and we encourage you to take advantage of our other offerings like multifactor authentication, security tokens, and administrative controls.

Set up alerts to receive comprehensive real-time notifications for specific account activities, including login attempts from new devices, transfers exceeding a minimal threshold, or attempts to change user profiles.

Your account balances and transactions are updated in real time, so commit to reviewing them regularly—ideally, on a daily basis—to watch for unauthorized or suspicious activity. If you find any transactions you question, let us know immediately.

Protecting your business accounts and protecting customer data from account takeover is an ongoing responsibility, not a destination. By integrating the three pillars of defense—well-trained people, robust technology, and secure processes—you can establish the best possible defense against the evolving threat of CATO. A consistent, safety-conscious attitude is the most reliable long-term strategy for safeguarding your financial assets.

Questions? Concerns? Stop by to talk to us today. We’re here to help!