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If your email account has been hacked, it’s important first not to panic.
If this is a business email account, you must act immediately, contact our team as soon as possible for support.
This guide is written specifically for UK business owners, directors, and IT managers dealing with a compromised email account.
A hacked business email is not just an inconvenience, it can lead to financial fraud, data breaches, GDPR exposure, and reputational damage if not handled correctly.
Below, we explain how to recognise a compromised email account, what causes email hacks, and exactly what to do next including additional steps for UK businesses. to remain secure going forward.
When an email account is hacked or compromised, it means someone has gained unauthorised access to it.
For business users your email is often set as the gateway to other systems, including:
Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace
Accounting software
CRM systems
Cloud storage
Supplier and client communications
Once an attacker is able to gain access to your business email, they can silently monitor emails, redirect payments, impersonate staff and extract sensitive data.
If your IT provider hasn’t implemented 24/7 monitoring and threat alerts keeping your business consistently vigilant of any suspicious anomalies these leaks can go undetected for days or weeks.
You may notice one or more of the following warning signs:
You are unable to sign in to your email account
Strange or unfamiliar emails appear in your Sent folder
You receive password reset emails you did not request
Contacts report receiving emails you didn’t send
Notifications of unusual or foreign login activity
Unexpected mailbox rules or email forwarding settings
If this is a business email account, treat this as a security incident, not a simple password issue.
Speak to the experts if you’re unsure whether your account has been compromised.
Email compromises usually occur through one or more of the following methods:
Hackers send convincing emails containing malicious links or QR codes designed to steal your login details.
You should look for poor grammar, unusual urgency, or unexpected attachments as these are all common red flags.
These phising emails are however getting more and more advanced with many being almost impossible to tell apart. We highlight recommend that you ensure your team are consistently made aware of these threats through simple monthly spoof emails used to test their awareness. Its important to build the right culture around this topic meaning never to be afraid to admit making a mistake and that if your ever unsure simply don’t click instead to escalate and double check.
Passwords that are short, predictable, or reused across multiple systems will make your account an easy target.
Using the same password multiple times means once a hacker gain access to one system they can run automated tools which use the same passwords with well know adjustments and attempt to access multiple.
A simple tool that can strengthen your business account is to implement a secure password manager to keep your team as secure as possible.
Your email credentials may have been leaked in a third-party breach without your knowledge. n example of a third party breach could be that you have an account with say a supermarket branch, this business is a victim of a data leak and your login details are up for grabs. Hackers similar to before will relentlessly try to access multiple accounts owned by you to gain access.
This again reinforced the need for a business password manager as well as company password policies that ensure personal passwords shouldn’t be used for work accounts.
Staying logged in on shared computers can allow others to access your email account and should be included within your business IT Policy.
If attackers gain access to your business network, email accounts are often their next target.
Hackers can gather information from LinkedIn or other platforms to craft highly targeted attacks.
A dark web scan can check whether your business data has been exposed in a data leak. Receive full report that outline which accounts have been previously compromised, the compromised password and the type of breach which caused the issue.
Time is critical. A delayed response can significantly increase damage.
Disable account access immediately (Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace)
Force a password reset using a new, unique password
Sign out of all active sessions
Check mailbox rules, forwarding, and delegated access and remove any changes made.
Preserve logs and evidence
Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) if not already active
Run full malware and antivirus scans on all connected devices (by your IT team or outsourced provider)
Review sent emails for evidence of fraud or impersonation
Notify internal staff and relevant stakeholders
Assess financial exposure (invoice fraud, payment redirection)
Assess whether this constitutes a personal data breach
If required, report to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours (GDPR Article 33)
Inform insurers if you hold cyber insurance
Consider professional incident response support
If you do not have in-house IT security expertise, continuing to use a compromised account can make matters worse.
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Once attackers gain access, they may:
Redirect invoices and supplier payments
Impersonate directors or finance staff
Send phishing emails internally to gain acces to further accounts
Steal confidential data or contracts
Monitor communications to plan future fraud
We’ve seen UK SMEs lose five-figure sums within hours of an email compromise because they didn’t have the right cyber security infrastructure in place nor the support and emergency response time that was required.
Ask yourself, you are confident your business is protected?
If the answer is no or that your unsure what protection you have it might be time to find out!
Book in a free cyber security review with a member of our team today.
Once access is restored, prevention is critical going forward. We recommend you:
Enforce strong, unique passwords across all systems
Use multi-factor authentication for all email users
Deploy managed malware and endpoint protection for every device
Back up business data regularly and securely
Train staff to recognise phishing and social engineering attacks
Don’t be the next victim of an email breach.
If your business email has been hacked or you suspect it has professional support can prevent further damage.
Get in touch with Syn-Star to speak to a security specialist and protect your business before more damage is done.
Common signs include being unable to log in, password reset emails you didn’t request, unfamiliar emails in your Sent folder, or contacts receiving messages you didn’t send. For business email accounts, unexpected mailbox rules or email forwarding settings are also a strong indicator of compromise.
Yes. Login alerts from unfamiliar locations or unknown devices often indicate someone has attempted or succeeded in accessing your email account.
You should immediately secure the account and contact your IT support provider.
If this is a business email account, you should also disable access temporarily and treat the incident as a security breach.
If you cannot access your account, contact your email provider straight away to recover it.
For business accounts, an IT provider can help lock the account, preserve evidence, and prevent further damage while access is restored.
Fixing a hacked email account involves more than a password reset. You should start by:
1. Checking for malicious mailbox rules
2. Removing unauthorised access
3. Scanning connected devices for malware
4. Securing any systems linked to that email address.
We highly recommend this is completed by an IT professional as if not done correctly there could consequences with connected account and possibly even business accounts.
UK businesses should:
1. Immediately contain the breach
2. Assess whether personal data has been accessed
3. Determine whether the incident must be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours under GDPR.
A compromised business email can be used to:
1. Impersonate staff
2. redirect payments
3. Steal sensitive data
4. Launch phishing attacks internally.
These hacks can cause financial losses and reputational damage can occur within hours if action isn’t taken.
Simply opening an email is usually not enough to be hacked.
However, clicking malicious links, opening infected attachments, or entering login details on fake websites can lead to an email account compromise.
No one provider is deemed “safe or “unsafe”.
Most email hacks occur due to phishing, weak passwords, or reused credentials rather than flaws in the email service itself.
Even secure platforms like Microsoft 365 and Gmail can be compromised if users are tricked.
You can use breach-detection tools to see whether your email address has appeared in known data leaks.
For businesses, a professional dark web scan can help identify exposed credentials and data.
We offer your first dark web scan completely free, simply fill in your business URL and business email and receive a full report of any compromised passwords within your organisation.
If you’re in the UK, secure the account immediately, assess data exposure, notify affected parties if required, and determine whether the incident must be reported to the ICO.
Businesses should document all actions taken.
The faster you act and inform the relevant people the more likely this can be managed and secured.
Repeated compromises usually indicate weak passwords, malware on a device, reused credentials, or missing multi-factor authentication.
A full security review is recommended to prevent ongoing breaches.
Yes. Email accounts are often used to reset passwords for banking, social media, cloud services, and business systems.
This is why email compromises are considered high-risk security incidents.
Yes. Informing contacts helps prevent them from falling victim to phishing or malware sent from your compromised account.
For businesses, this may include customers, suppliers, or internal staff.
If the compromised email is used for business, finance, or sensitive data or if you are unsure what the attacker accessed, a professional incident response support can significantly reduce risk and recovery time.
Giles Cleverley founded Syn-Star in 2002 shortly after graduating from Portsmouth university with an honours degree in Business & Economics.
His extensive knowledge and experience in IT strategy and business technology solutions. He is passionate about driving innovation and delivering tailored IT support that helps UK small and medium size businesses thrive. Under his leadership, Syn-Star continues to provide cutting-edge managed IT services designed to meet the evolving needs of modern organisations.
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