Exposed: What the Microsoft Hack Should Teach AP Leaders About Supplier Payment Security

It’s just after 9 a.m. and your inbox is already on fire.

A vendor is claiming they weren’t paid. But your system shows the payment went out – just to a different bank account. Another supplier has flagged a suspicious request for updated payment details that supposedly came from your team. Your IT department just alerted you to a possible breach of shared files. And now you’re scrambling to track approvals, emails, and PDFs – none of which tell the full story.

Sound familiar? Unfortunately, this kind of scenario is becoming more common – and more costly.

And today’s headlines are another wake-up call.

When Weak Links in the Chain Become Entry Points for Attack

According to breaking news, Microsoft’s SharePoint platform – used by countless finance and AP departments to share sensitive documents – was compromised in a sweeping cyberattack. Hackers exploited a vulnerability to access confidential business files, potentially including payment instructions, tax documents, and other critical accounts payable (AP)The amount a company owes to suppliers for goods and services received but not yet paid. data.

For teams still relying on PDFs, spreadsheets, email approvals, and shared folders to manage their invoice-to-pay process, this breach exposes a chilling truth: when your processes aren’t secure, neither are your payments.

Cybercriminals don’t need to breach your enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to steal funds or reroute payments. They just need to intercept an invoice, impersonate a supplier, or sneak in a fake bank account update. And in AP environments without built-in safeguards, it can happen without anyone noticing – until the money’s gone.

The High Price of Manual and Fragmented AP Processes

Without a modern, secure invoice-to-pay solution in place, AP departments face significant risk:

• Bank account changes are processed manually, often based on emailed requests.  These requests are vulnerable to impersonation and phishingA type of cyberattack that uses fraudulent emails to trick users into sharing sensitive information like login credentials or banking details. attacks, especially when they come from generic or spoofed email addresses. Without a verification process, AP teams may unknowingly route payments to fraudulent accounts.

• Approvals are scattered across inboxes, sticky notes, or hallway conversations.  Informal and inconsistent approval methods make it difficult to track who signed off on what and when. This lack of visibility opens the door to duplicate payments, unauthorized approvals, and costly compliance violations.

• There’s no way to verify if the vendor onboarding process met compliance standards.  When supplier information is collected and stored manually, it’s easy to skip critical steps like tax ID matching, OFAC screening, or bank ownership checks. Over time, incomplete or outdated records introduce significant audit and regulatory risks.

• Audit trails are inconsistent – or nonexistent.  Investigating issues requires piecing together a digital paper trail from emails, PDFs, and spreadsheets – if one exists at all. Without a centralized, time-stamped log, identifying the source of an error or fraud attempt can take days and may never lead to clear answers.

Now Picture a Different Kind of AP Department

It’s 9 a.m. again – but this time, your AP team is working within a secure, modern invoice-to-pay platform.

A supplier’s request to update bank account details is submitted through a self-service portal. The system automatically verifies the authenticity of the request and flags anything suspicious for review. Multi-level approvals are required and tracked within the platform. Every action is logged, with time-stamped digital records and built-in fraud checks.

When a fraudulent request does come in, it’s stopped before any money leaves your organization.

Instead of putting out fires, your team is focused on strategy, reporting, and process improvement.

That’s the difference secure automation makes.

What to Look for in a Secure Invoice-to-Pay Solution

To defend your AP department from growing threats, a secure invoice-to-pay solution should include:

• User role and permission controls.  Only authorized users should have access to sensitive tasks and data. Granular role-based permissions limit what each team member can view, approve, or change – helping ensure proper segregation of duties. This reduces the risk of internal fraud and accidental overrides of key controls.

• Multifactor authentication (MFA).  MFA requires users to provide more than just a password to gain access, such as a one-time code sent to a mobile device. This added layer of defense helps block unauthorized access, even if login credentials are compromised. It’s one of the simplest and most effective ways to reduce the risk of AP-related cyber breaches.

• Bank account ownership verification.  This feature automatically validates that the payment account truly belongs to the supplier before any change is accepted. It uses secure, third-party data to match account details to verified business records. This control helps stop fraudsters from redirecting funds to fake accounts using stolen or spoofed identities.

• Audit trails and payment logs.  Every step in the invoice-to-pay process should be recorded – who entered data, who approved, and when. These logs offer complete transparency and allow teams to quickly trace and resolve any discrepancies. A robust audit trail not only supports internal reviews but also simplifies compliance with regulatory requirements.

• Encrypted data and secure infrastructure. Look for a provider that encrypts data both in transit and at rest, keeping sensitive supplier and payment information protected from prying eyes. Secure infrastructure should include firewalls, intrusion detection, and redundancy to safeguard against outages and attacks. Third-party security audits and certifications also indicate a provider’s commitment to data protectionPractices and technologies used to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access or theft..

• Real-time alerts and anomaly detection.  Smart monitoring tools should flag suspicious activity – like an unusual payment amount or duplicate invoice – before it becomes a problem. These alerts give your team time to investigate and act in real time. Anomaly detection powered by AI or rules-based logic can identify threats that humans might miss.

The right invoice-to-pay platform doesn’t just automate AP – it acts as your frontline defense.

The Takeaway for AP Leaders

If your invoice-to-pay process still relies on manual steps, siloed data, or shared folders, today’s Microsoft hack should be your call to action. Fraudsters are getting smarter. Attacks are getting bolder. And the fallout from even a single mistake can be devastating. The most important upgrade your AP department can make this year isn’t cosmetic – it’s secure invoice-to-pay automation.