The Next Cyber Threat Could Be One Click Away

The biggest cybersecurity threat facing businesses today isn’t always fraudsters finding new ways to break into their systems. It’s an age old tactic, scamming businesses into granting them access. With AI, they can impersonate trusted vendors, replicate familiar voices and create increasingly convincing scams.

As cyber threats become more sophisticated, businesses have more tools and resources to protect themselves. Through smarter fraud detection, stronger safeguards and closer collaboration with financial partners, businesses can take a more proactive approach to preventing fraud. Here are the key questions every business should be asking to better protect itself.

How is AI changing the cybersecurity landscape for businesses?

AI has fundamentally changed how fraudsters operate, but it’s important to recognize that many of the threats we’re seeing aren’t necessarily new. What’s changed is how convincing they’ve become. Complaints involving AI-related activity accounted for $893 million in reported losses in 2025, showing just how significant these risks have become.

Think about a business owner who receives an email from a trusted vendor requesting updated payment information. A few years ago, spelling mistakes or unusual language might have raised suspicion, but today, that same email could look nearly identical to previous communications. And with fraudsters now able to replicate voices, create convincing videos and produce realistic financial documents, even familiar names and voices can no longer be taken at face value. That’s why it’s important for businesses to verify unusual requests through a separate, trusted channel.

Additionally, in the same way AI is providing many of our businesses efficiency, it does the same for fraudsters, providing the opportunity to deploy their tactics at scale, hitting a number of businesses with limited resources.

Are you taking full advantage of your bank’s fraud prevention tools?

Business owners should understand the fraud prevention tools their bank offers and how they can use them to better protect their accounts and financial information. Consider asking your bank questions like: What security measures are in place? How are unusual transactions identified? And what additional safeguards are in place that help protect my accounts?

Banks are continuing to strengthen their fraud prevention efforts by investing in technology, including AI and advanced analytics, to identify unusual transaction patterns, recognize changes in account behavior and flag potential fraud before it becomes a problem.

Technology alone isn’t the answer. Businesses should understand what protections are available, from transaction alerts to additional payment approvals, and how those tools fit into their own operations. At minimum, businesses should implement mandatory dual-approval workflows for outgoing payments, and utilize positive pay services to verify checks and ACH transactions before they clear.

At the same time, cybersecurity needs to be a priority across the organization, not just something left to the IT department. Business leaders should be regularly reviewing security practices, educating employees and making sure everyone understands their role in protecting financial information.

What cybersecurity risks are businesses overlooking?

One thing that is consistently concerning is how readily people are willing to share sensitive financial information with new technologies without fully understanding where that information is going.

AI tools are becoming part of everyday business operations, and there’s a lot of opportunity in that, but we’re already seeing the risks of giving these tools too much access. Major U.S. banks have detected unauthorized third-party AI agents accessing customer accounts, with some appearing to take actions beyond what users instructed them to do.

Businesses and consumers handing over their credentials to AI agents is a real concern. Handing these controls over to AI agents, gives them authority over your bank accounts and payment decisions, which is very risky as the ability of the agents continues to evolve and develop. Businesses may be left with no recourse if the agent does not act in accordance with its programming, presenting a significant risk.

Is your business prepared to respond when fraud happens?

When it comes to financial fraud, every minute matters, and businesses need to act quickly when something goes wrong. With payments moving faster than ever, the time between identifying suspicious activity and potentially losing funds can be very short.

That’s why having a plan in place is just as important as preventing fraud in the first place. Does your business have a trusted banker you can call? Businesses should know who to contact, how to stop or flag a suspicious transaction and what steps employees should take if they believe an account has been compromised.

If something doesn’t look right, don’t wait. Contact your bank immediately using a verified number, secure any affected accounts and preserve relevant communications. The sooner suspicious activity is reported, the greater the opportunity to intervene and potentially recover funds.

Cybersecurity is a business responsibility, not just a technology problem. Fraudsters will continue finding new ways to target businesses, but that shouldn’t prevent owners from moving forward. Building a culture of awareness and preparedness allows businesses to embrace innovation with confidence and focus on what matters most: serving their customers and growing their businesses.

By Frank Sorrentino, Contributor