The phishing emails are getting scary good. Used to be you could spot them from a mile away – misspelled words, weird grammar, obviously fake sender addresses.

Not anymore.

Client of ours, accounting firm, they know to watch out for this stuff. One of their people got an email that looked exactly like it came from their bank. Same logo, same colors, even had the little security warning footer that their real bank uses.

Only thing different was the reply-to address. Off by one letter. Easy to miss if you’re not looking carefully.

They caught it, but barely. And these are people who’ve been through phishing training multiple times.

The attacks are evolving faster than our defenses. And it’s working.

Why the Old Training Doesn’t Work

Everyone does phishing training now. Show people examples of suspicious emails, run fake phishing tests, tell them to be careful about links and attachments.

But the emails aren’t suspicious anymore. That’s the problem.

AI Is Writing the Emails Now

Yeah, artificial intelligence. Same stuff that helps with customer service and marketing is now writing phishing emails that sound completely legitimate.

Perfect grammar. Appropriate business language. They’re even pulling information from your website and social media to make the emails more convincing.

Training people to spot “suspicious” emails doesn’t work when the emails look and sound exactly like real business communication.

Business Email Compromise Is Getting Expensive

This is the one that really hurts. Hackers get into a real email account – could be a vendor, customer, someone at your company. Then they send emails from that actual account.

Manufacturing client got an email from their biggest customer asking to change bank account information for payments. Came from the customer’s real email address. Looked completely normal.

They changed the banking info. Next payment – forty thousand dollars – went to the hackers.

Took weeks to sort out. Never got all the money back.

The Urgency Problem

These aren’t the old “Nigerian prince” scams anymore. They’re business emails. “Need this invoice paid today.” “Client wants to change payment method.” “CEO needs gift cards for a meeting.”

They create time pressure. Make people want to be helpful and get things done quickly. Bypass the normal verification processes.

What Actually Stops Modern Phishing

Training is still important, but it’s not enough by itself anymore.

Better Email Filtering

The basic spam filtering that comes with Office 365 isn’t cutting it. You need something that analyzes sender behavior, looks for domain spoofing, flags emails from new contacts.

Most small businesses are relying on whatever comes with their email service. That stopped being adequate about two years ago.

Multi-Factor Authentication Everywhere

When someone does fall for a phishing email and enters their password, you want MFA to stop them from actually getting into your systems.

Not just on email. Accounting system, file servers, any business application that matters.

Verification Procedures for Money

Any request to change payment information should require verification outside of email. Phone call to a known number. In-person confirmation. Something.

Sounds paranoid until you’re dealing with a wire transfer that went to the wrong account.

Your team needs protection against phishing attacks that look exactly like real business emails. The old methods aren’t keeping up.

The Real Damage From Successful Attacks

It’s not just about the money, although that’s bad enough.

Account Takeovers

Someone gets access to an employee’s email account. Now they can read all their email, send messages as them, access whatever systems that account connects to.

And they’re patient about it. Sit there for weeks learning about your business, figuring out the best way to cause damage.

Ransomware Delivery

Lot of ransomware starts with a phishing email. Someone clicks a link or downloads an attachment, malware starts spreading through your network.

Had a client deal with this last year. Started with what looked like a legitimate invoice attachment. Ended up with their entire file server encrypted and a fifty-thousand-dollar ransom demand.

Industry Differences Matter

Different businesses get targeted differently.

CPA Firms

Tax season is phishing season. Fake client emails with “tax documents.” Fake IRS communications. Fake software updates for tax prep systems.

Tax information is valuable. Hackers know accounting firms have access to lots of it.

Manufacturing

Business email compromise targeting payment information. Fake vendor invoices. Compromised customer accounts asking for changes to banking or shipping details.

When you’re dealing with large transactions, one successful attack can be devastating.

Any Business That Processes Payments

Credit card information, bank account details, payment processing credentials. This stuff is valuable and heavily targeted.

What Your IT Company Should Be Doing

Advanced Email Security

Not just basic spam filtering. Something that analyzes sender reputation, checks for domain spoofing, scans attachments in isolated environments.

If your IT company hasn’t talked about advanced email security, they’re behind.

Security Training That’s Actually Current

Not just annual videos about obvious phishing attempts. Regular training covering current attack methods. Simulated tests that are actually relevant to your business.

When someone fails a test, more training. Not just a lecture about being careful.

Incident Response Planning

Someone’s eventually going to fall for something. What happens then? How do you contain the damage? How do you figure out what was compromised?

Most small businesses don’t have a plan. They should.

Red Flags Your Protection Isn’t Working

Obvious Phishing Emails Getting Through

If you’re still getting Nigerian prince emails in your inbox, your email filtering isn’t working.

No Discussion of Advanced Threats

If your IT company is still talking about phishing like it’s 2018, they’re not keeping up with current threats.

No Incident Response Plan

If someone clicks on something they shouldn’t have, do you know what to do? How to limit the damage?

If the answer is “call our IT company and hope they know,” that’s not good enough.

The Reality Check

Phishing attacks are getting more sophisticated faster than most businesses are improving their defenses.

Training is important. Technical controls are more important. Verification procedures are critical.

But most importantly, you need an IT team that understands this is an ongoing battle, not a problem you solve once.

The bad guys are getting better at this every month. Your defenses need to keep up.