CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701)Threats, Vulnerabilities, and MitigationsMedium
An accounts payable clerk receives an email that appears to come from the company's CFO, referencing a real ongoing vendor project and requesting an urgent wire transfer to a new bank account. The email address is one character off from the CFO's actual address. Which attack technique is being used?
- ABusiness email compromise
- BCredential stuffing
- CTyposquatting
- DWhaling
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Business email compromise
Business email compromise (BEC) involves impersonating an executive or trusted party via email, often using a spoofed or lookalike address and contextual details, to trick an employee into transferring funds. Whaling specifically targets high-value executives as victims, not as impersonated senders; typosquatting refers to domain-based deception generally, while BEC is the specific financial fraud scenario described.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Wrong: no stolen credentials or login attempts are described.
- C. Wrong: typosquatting is a broader domain-registration tactic, not the specific attack name here.
- D. Wrong: whaling targets executives as the victim, not clerks.
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
A social engineering attack where an attacker impersonates an executive or trusted vendor via email to trick an employee into transferring funds or sensitive data.
- Often uses lookalike domains or compromised accounts
- Relies on urgency and authority to bypass scrutiny
- Commonly targets finance/accounts payable staff
Memory trick: BEC: Boss Emails Cash-request, but it's fake.