Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a common type of attack in which criminals will attempt to gain access to company email accounts. A large portion of these attacks focus their efforts on attempting to fraudulently obtain company funds by tricking employees into performing wire transfers to accounts under control of the criminal. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center’s reported $26.2 billion dollars in domestic and international losses between June 2016 and July 2019. While that is a large number, it is not just the famous cases that you hear about that account for the losses. Logic Speak has a couple of clients that have been targeted and earlier in 2020 heard from the Secret Service that oftentimes smaller companies are easier to access than larger organizations.
The most common sources of a BEC attack are phishing emails which entice a user to enter their credentials on a website owned by the attacker, malware installed on the computer, or from reuse of passwords that were used on other sites which have experienced a compromise and breach. In the case of reused passwords, the email accounts don’t even necessarily need to match; if the attacker has real names associated with accounts from a compromise and breach, they can use that to search LinkedIn and other sites for business or other email addresses associated with that name and then try the passwords they gained from the breach. Once the attackers have a set of working credentials, they can log into the email account and begin their work.
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Recently Logic Speak’s monitoring identified a mail account at a client which started forwarding email to an unrecognized Gmail account. Upon calling the owner of the mailbox to verify whether this was forwarding they had created; it was determined their account had been compromised. In addition to the forwarding rule, other rules were found marking emails that met certain criteria as read and moving them out of the Inbox. Further investigation found that the attacker had used the mailbox credentials to add the account to the mail client on a mobile phone. By acting swiftly to remove the unwanted mailbox rules, revoke all unauthorized access, and reset passwords, Logic Speak was able to restore full access to the mailbox and secure it from the attacker.
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At Logic Speak, our core values shape how we lead, how we work, and how we serve our clients. They’re not words on a wall, they’re filters for decisions and expectations for how we show up every day.
But here’s something we’ve learned the hard way: even good values have a shadow side.
Values, when taken too far or applied without self‑awareness, can create unintended consequences. What starts as a strength can quietly become a blind spot. And if we’re not careful, the very things we pride ourselves on can work against us.
So today, we want to talk honestly about our values, not just the best of them, but the risks of overusing them.
We Care for You
The strength:
Caring for others is foundational to who we are. It means treating people with dignity, empathy, and kindness. It means remembering that coworkers, clients, and partners are humans first, not just roles or tickets or invoices.
The shadow side:
When care goes unchecked, it can turn into avoidance. We may hesitate to give hard feedback because we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. We may tolerate behaviors longer than we should because we empathize deeply with circumstances. Over time, clarity suffers, and ironically, so does trust.
Care without courage isn’t actually care.
We Lean In
The strength:
We lean in when there’s a need. We take ownership. We step up when things are unclear or uncomfortable. This value fuels responsibility, initiative, and teamwork.
The shadow side:
Leaning in too much can become overfunctioning. We jump in to fix things that aren’t ours to fix. We take on too much instead of letting others wrestle and grow. Eventually, this can lead to burnout, resentment, or invisible bottlenecks where “that person always handles it.”
Sometimes the most responsible thing to do is not lean in, but step back.
We Love Our Craft
The strength:
We take pride in doing things well. We pay attention to details. We care about quality, process, and doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
The shadow side:
At its extreme, loving our craft can turn into perfectionism. We may over‑engineer solutions, delay decisions, or become critical when others don’t meet our internal standards. What was meant to produce excellence can unintentionally slow momentum or make collaboration harder.
Excellence should serve the outcome, not replace it.
We Keep Improving
The strength:
Growth matters here. We believe learning never stops and that feedback, when handled well, is a gift. This value keeps us curious, hungry, and moving forward.
The shadow side:
Constant improvement can quietly create the feeling that “where we are is never enough.” Wins may go uncelebrated because we’re already focused on what’s next. People may feel like they’re always being evaluated instead of occasionally being affirmed.
Improvement without appreciation can feel exhausting.
Why This Matters: Blind Spots Are Part of Being Human
None of these shadow sides mean our values are flawed. They mean we’re human.
Every person, every team, and every organization has blind spots. Often, they’re not found in our weaknesses, but in our strengths, overused or unexamined. The danger isn’t having blind spots, it’s assuming we don’t.
That’s why self‑awareness matters so deeply to us. It’s why feedback matters. It’s why we believe asking questions like “How is this landing?” and “What might I be missing?” is a leadership responsibility, not a sign of insecurity.
Living Our Values With Humility
Our goal isn’t to live our values perfectly. It’s to live them thoughtfully.
That means holding our values firmly, but ourselves humbly. It means inviting perspective, welcoming challenge, and remembering that good intentions don’t eliminate unintended impact.
When we name the shadow side, we don’t weaken our culture, we strengthen it.
Because the best teams aren’t made of people without blind spots.
They’re made of people willing to look for them.
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