BEC Defender: QR Code-Based Methodology for Prevention of Business Email Compromise (BEC) Attacks

Area of Science:

• Cybersecurity
• Information Security
• Network Security

Background:

• Cyber threats are evolving, making business email compromise (BEC) attacks a significant risk.
• Current defenses against BEC attacks are often insufficient due to the dynamic nature of these threats.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel methodology, BEC Defender, for enhanced protection against BEC attacks.
• To augment existing email authentication mechanisms with a multi-layered validation process.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a multi-layered validation process for business emails.
• Utilized MAC address as an identity token for authentication.
• Incorporated QR code generation and timestamps as unique identifiers.
• Developed and evaluated the BEC-Defender algorithm in a laboratory setting.

Main Results:

• The BEC Defender methodology demonstrated promising results in mitigating BEC attacks.
• The system successfully added an extra layer of authentication to business emails.
• Laboratory evaluation confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm against simulated BEC attacks.

Conclusions:

• The BEC Defender offers a robust and novel approach to enhance email security.
• Multi-layered authentication, including MAC addresses, QR codes, and timestamps, is effective against BEC threats.
• Further research and implementation are warranted to combat sophisticated cyber threats.