When Your CEO Texts You — And It’s Not Your CEO
Executive impersonation is cheap, convincing, and already in your inbox.
There was a time when scam emails were easy to spot. They came with broken grammar, strange logos, and suspicious links from unknown addresses in faraway countries. But attackers have changed their approach. Now, the message is shorter, more familiar, and comes from someone you know — or think you do. It might be your CEO. It might be your CFO. It might be your department head asking for a quick favour or a confidential transaction.
This is the tactic known as executive impersonation, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most effective forms of social engineering today. Attackers don’t need to break into your systems when they can get what they want through trust and urgency. They spoof a message, imitate a tone, and rely on the fact that most employees — especially when caught off guard — won’t think twice before helping the boss.
Executive impersonation is now so common that many organisations have already experienced a version of it. The damage varies. Sometimes it's a wire transfer. Sometimes it's leaked credentials. Sometimes it’s an internal document sent to an outsider. But the method remains the same: bypassing security tools and going straight for people.
The Message Looks Real Because It Feels Real
One of the reasons executive impersonation is so dangerous is because it's designed to be psychologically convincing. The attacker doesn't rely on malware or technical exploits. They rely on your instinct to respond quickly to a request from someone in authority. The message might be simple: "Can you process this payment for me urgently?" or "I need those access credentials — please keep it confidential." The urgency, the authority, and the familiarity are carefully crafted to bypass suspicion.
These messages are short for a reason. They’re mobile-friendly, and they mimic real executive communication styles — direct and minimal. Attackers often do basic research ahead of time, learning how specific leaders write, what tools the company uses, and even who reports to whom. In some cases, AI-powered text generation tools are used to mirror tone and phrasing. The result? Messages that don’t trigger suspicion because they sound just plausible enough to slip through.
The attack doesn’t rely on volume — it relies on precision. It’s often just one message to the right person at the right time. There’s no malicious attachment to scan, no dodgy domain name to block. Just a well-timed request that looks like it came from someone important. And for companies that haven’t trained staff to expect this kind of manipulation, it’s often enough to work.
The Old Defences Don’t Apply Here
Most organisations are prepared for technical attacks. They invest in endpoint protection, firewalls, multifactor authentication, and email filtering tools. But executive impersonation isn’t a technical attack — it’s a behavioural one. It doesn’t break in through the network. It walks in through the front door, carried by someone who thinks they’re helping.
Because there’s no payload or malicious code, traditional cybersecurity tools don’t see this coming. Spam filters aren’t designed to block messages that look like legitimate internal requests. And IT systems, unless they’re integrated with real-time behavioural analysis, can’t stop an employee from acting on a fake request. The human layer becomes the last — and often weakest — line of defence.
This is what makes executive impersonation so insidious. It doesn’t look like an attack. It feels like business as usual. And that’s exactly the point. Attackers don’t need to compromise your tech stack. They just need a moment of misplaced trust. If your organisation hasn't prepared your people for this — if they’ve never seen an example, never questioned a strange message, never been told what not to do — then you're at risk, whether you realise it or not.
It’s Not About Being Smarter. It’s About Being Ready.
Organisations sometimes assume that executive impersonation only happens to untrained or careless employees. That’s a dangerous myth. The truth is, these attacks are designed to fool smart, capable professionals. They exploit the speed and pressure of modern business. They arrive at peak times — mid-meeting, during a product launch, just before a holiday. And they’re often successful precisely because the recipient doesn’t have time to think.
Being prepared isn’t about being tech-savvy. It’s about being trained. When employees are given clear, practical examples of what executive impersonation looks like — and when they’re encouraged to question, verify, and report unusual messages — the likelihood of a successful attack drops significantly. The goal isn’t to create paranoia. It’s to build confidence and awareness.
Training works best when it's routine, scenario-based, and leadership-supported. It shouldn't be a one-time event buried in a compliance module. It should be part of a culture that reinforces cybersecurity as everyone’s responsibility — not just something for the IT department to worry about. When staff know what to do and feel supported in doing it, they become your strongest line of defence.
The Role of Leadership Is Critical
Ironically, attacks that impersonate leadership often succeed because real leadership isn’t visibly involved in cybersecurity. Many executives don’t participate in awareness campaigns or simulated phishing tests. Some don’t even realise how easy it is for their names — and authority — to be weaponised against their own people.
This has to change. When leaders visibly support security awareness, when they talk about it, participate in it, and model best practices themselves, employees notice. The culture shifts. Reporting a suspicious message becomes normal, not hesitant. Verifying an unusual request becomes responsible, not insubordinate. And attackers lose their edge.
Leadership also has the power to fund the right training, back up the right policies, and set expectations across departments. If the tone from the top treats cybersecurity as an operational priority — not a compliance burden — that message ripples through the organisation. It shapes how teams behave when faced with uncertainty. And that makes all the difference.
You Don’t Train for Phishing After You’ve Been Hooked
Every organisation is vulnerable until it isn’t. The difference often comes down to whether they invested in awareness before an incident — or only after one. Once an executive impersonation attack succeeds, the damage is difficult to unwind. Funds may be unrecoverable. Credentials may be compromised. And reputational trust, once lost, is slow to return.
The time to prepare is now. That means running realistic simulations. It means talking openly about social engineering. It means treating human error not as a liability, but as something that can be reduced through education and practice. And it means making awareness part of the rhythm of the business — just like finance reviews or product updates.
Good cybersecurity isn't reactive. It's cultural. And building that culture takes time, consistency, and commitment from every layer of the organisation — especially the top.
In the End, This Is About Trust — and How It’s Exploited
Executive impersonation works because it exploits something foundational: the instinct to trust leaders and to act quickly when they ask for help. That instinct isn’t wrong. But it must be balanced with verification and context. Just as we’ve learned to spot fake news or misleading ads, we must now teach teams to spot impersonation — even when it feels familiar.
Trust is a powerful force. It moves businesses forward. It aligns teams. It keeps decisions flowing. But when it’s misused, it can become a vector for attack. Organisations that want to defend against executive impersonation must learn to protect their trust — not by reducing it, but by grounding it in awareness.
Because the best defence isn’t perfect software or stricter rules. It’s a workforce that knows what to expect, how to respond, and when to ask: Is this really from the CEO?
AKATI Sekurity helps organisations defend against executive impersonation and other social engineering threats through immersive awareness programs, phishing simulations, and leadership-aligned cyber training. Because the next message that looks real — might not be.
