At first glance, the water seems perfectly still.
That's exactly what makes Shark Week so gripping year after year. The real threat is never obvious on the surface. It's what's already moving below it.
Cybercriminals work the same way. The threats facing businesses today are built to hide inside everyday activity until something breaks, money disappears, or systems shut down.
And during the summer, when routines change, employees travel, and oversight weakens, attackers know many businesses are paying less attention than usual.
Here are three threats they're using right now.
1. Fraudulent invoices and vendor impersonation
Attackers often don't need to break into anything. In many cases, all it takes is one convincing email.
This tactic is known as business email compromise (BEC), and it relies on impersonating a vendor, supplier, or executive your team already trusts.
The message looks routine, someone approves payment to the "vendor," and by the time the mistake is discovered, the loss has already happened.
These attacks rise sharply during vacation season for a reason. When the person who normally signs off on payments is away, requests are redirected to someone who may not know what's normal. Temporary replacements are less likely to challenge urgency, and attackers count on that.
The solution is easy to put in place: create a verification step for every financial request sent by email. A quick callback to a trusted number, not the one in the message, can prevent most of these fraud attempts before they go any further.
2. Phishing attacks aimed at distracted employees
Phishing succeeds because it is built around how people act when they're rushed or distracted.
Cybercriminals create these moments on purpose. An employee sees a password reset alert and clicks without thinking. Someone gets a text that appears to come from IT. An email arrives just before a meeting asking for urgent approval on a wire transfer. No one stops to verify because slowing down feels inconvenient.
The strongest defense isn't just technology; it's a security-minded culture.
Employees need to feel confident pausing 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 use speed to pressure their targets. When you slow the pace, you take that advantage away.
3. Third-party risks that spread quickly
If a vendor with access to your systems is compromised, the threat doesn't stop with them. It moves straight into your environment through whatever link they have to your business.
This is supply chain exposure, and most businesses have far more of it than they realize. Software connected to the network, service providers with stored credentials, and contractors whose access was never removed after a project all create possible entry points that many owners have never fully tracked.
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 managing those relationships?
If those answers aren't clear, your business may be more exposed than you think.
By the time you notice it, the threat is already in motion
Sharks don't warn you before they strike, and neither do the cybercriminals targeting your business right now.
The companies that get hit are not always the ones who ignore obvious red flags. They're often the ones that assume everything is fine because nothing looks wrong.
Summer is when schedules loosen, attention shifts, and the water looks calmest. It's also when attackers are most active.
We help businesses uncover their exposure across vendors, employee behavior, and daily operations before a problem turns into a costly incident.
If you're not sure where your business stands, schedule a 15-Minute Discovery Call.
Click here or give us a call at 336-904-2445 to schedule your free 15-Minute Discovery Call.
