Business Email Compromise (BEC)
What is Business Email Compromise (BEC)?
A type of fraud where an attacker impersonates a trusted person — typically a CEO, vendor, or lawyer — via email to trick an employee into transferring money, sharing sensitive data, or changing payment details. BEC does not use malware; it exploits trust and urgency. It is the most financially damaging form of cybercrime globally.
How BEC works and how to protect your business →
Why this matters for Canadian businesses
Understanding Business Email Compromise (BEC) is part of building a security programme that meets the 13 Baseline Cyber Security Controls published by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (ITSM.10.089) — the Government of Canada's recommended minimum standard for small and medium organizations. You can measure your organization against all 13 controls with our free cybersecurity assessment.
For the wider picture on how Canadian small and medium businesses are performing, see The Cybersecurity Canada Report 2026, our annual benchmark of incident rates, breach costs, and regulation affecting Canadian organizations.
Cite This Page
Suggested citation:
Cybersecurity Canada (2026). Business Email Compromise (BEC). Retrieved from https://cybersecuritycanada.ca/glossary/bec/
Permanent URL: https://cybersecuritycanada.ca/glossary/bec/
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