Here are a few simple steps SMBs can take to better protect themselves against these threats:
- Register obvious variations of your domain (cheap and effective).
- Enable MFA everywhere (cuts off most credential theft).
- Use email security tools that check for lookalike domains. Tools like DNS firewalls can automatically block employees from visiting risky websites, especially brand-new or suspicious lookalike domains.
- Train employees to hover over links before clicking and check whether they are legitimate.
- Monitor for new domains impersonating your brand. Early alerting and rapid takedown procedures are essential to limit the dwell time of malicious infrastructure.
- Shadow AI visibility is a growing concern. Monitor internal use of AI tools to prevent data leaks that provide attackers with the specific keywords or document naming conventions or system mapping they need to create highly effective impersonation domains. Shadow AI leaks more than people realize by quietly teaching outsiders how your organization works without having to hack systems. If employees paste real internal content into AI tools, that can reveal naming conventions for systems and documents, folder structures, and more that can be leveraged in digital squatting and other social engineering attacks.
