Work

Business email compromise: A systematic review of understanding, detection, and challenges

Year: 2025

Type: review

Abstract: Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a widespread fraud targeting businesses and individuals to obtain financial benefits and gain access to highly sensitive data. BEC fraud significantly impacts almost all organizations worldwide, resulting in substantial losses. Despite its prevalence, there is a shortage of research on understanding and protecting against this fraud. Consequently, this paper aims to survey existing BEC detection techniques. It first provides an overview of the methods and strategies used by attackers in BEC schemes. It also reviews existing BEC detection and prevention techniques, including both technical and non-technical solutions. The strengths of each technique are objectively discussed, and their limitations are critically analyzed. Finally, this study offers a thorough set of current challenges in BEC detection and outlines future research directions, providing valuable guidance for improving security measures against BEC fraud.

Source: Computers & Security

DOI: 10.1016/j.cose.2025.104630

Authors: Amirah Almutairi, BooJoong Kang, Nawfal Alhashimy

Institutions: Shaqra University, University of Southampton

Language: English

Topic: Spam and Phishing Detection

Subfield: Information Systems

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,100

Funder: Shaqra University