At first glance, the water seems perfectly still.
That's exactly why Shark Week grabs attention year after year: the real danger is rarely on the surface. It's already moving below.
Cybercriminals work the same way. Today's threats are built to look like normal business activity until the moment a payment clears, data is stolen, or systems shut down.
And during the summer, when teams are short-staffed, calendars are packed, and decision-makers are away, attackers know businesses are easier to catch off guard.
Here are three threats circling right now.
1. Counterfeit invoices and vendor impersonation
Most attackers don't need to break into anything. Often, one convincing email is enough.
This tactic is known as business email compromise (BEC), and it works by posing as a vendor, supplier, or executive your staff already trusts.
The message looks legitimate, the payment gets sent, and by the time the fraud is uncovered, the money is already gone.
These attacks increase during vacation season for a reason. When the person who usually approves payments is out, the request is often handed to someone unfamiliar with the normal process. Temporary backups are more likely to trust urgency, and attackers count on that.
The best defense is easy to put in place: create a verification step for any financial request sent by email. A quick callback to a trusted number, not the one in the message, can stop most scams before they succeed.
2. Phishing campaigns aimed at distracted staff
Phishing works because it exploits how people behave when they're rushed.
Attackers plan for those moments. An employee sees a password reset alert and clicks without thinking. Someone gets a text that appears to come from IT. A last-minute email arrives before a meeting asking for urgent wire approval. No one pauses because pausing feels inconvenient.
The strongest protection isn't just software. It's a workplace mindset.
Employees should feel empowered to slow down 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 rely on speed. When you slow the process down, you take away their advantage.
3. Third-party risks that spread quickly
When a vendor with access to your systems is breached, the threat doesn't stop with them. It can move straight into your environment through every connection they have to your business.
This is supply chain exposure, and most organizations have more of it than they realize. Software integrations, service providers with stored credentials, and contractors who were never fully removed after a project can all create hidden entry points that are easy to overlook.
Outsourcing a service does not outsource accountability.
To understand your risk, 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 company manages those relationships?
If those answers aren't clear, your business is carrying unnecessary exposure.
By the time you notice it, it's already in motion
Sharks don't announce themselves, and neither do the cybercriminals targeting your business right now.
The companies that get hit aren't always the ones ignoring obvious warning signs. More often, they're the ones assuming everything is fine because nothing looks wrong.
Summer is when routines loosen, attention slips, and the water looks calmest. It's also when attackers are most active.
We help businesses identify exposure across vendors, employee behavior, and daily operations before a costly incident happens.
If you're not sure where your business stands, schedule a 10-Minute Discovery Call.
Click here or give us a call at (805) 295-8883 to schedule your free 10-Minute Discovery Call.
