The digital banking and fintech sectors are undergoing rapid change, affecting how customers and businesses use their financial assets. As a result of this rapid change, the speed of transactions has increased significantly. Mobile Banking applications, as well as Real-Time Payment Systems and Digital Lending Platforms, have made it much easier for all types of customers to transact across a much larger number of financial institutions than ever before.
Also, given the fact that these services are now more accessible, interconnected, and therefore much faster, the overall attack surface within the Banking and FinTech industries has also greatly increased. As a result, the Financial Services industry is among the top targets for Cybercriminals. For Financial Institutions to continue to be able to protect their sensitive data, build customer trust, and meet their regulatory obligations, they must also stay aware of the changing Threat Landscape.
As the Financial Services industry shifts to Cloud Computing, APIs, and Mobile First Services, the number of possible entry points into these services,Hackers continues to grow as well. In addition, because Fintechs often focus more on Speed and Innovation than Security, they run the risk of overlooking significant security gaps.
Furthermore, the integration of third-party vendors and services, the rise of Open Banking frameworks, and the use of Digital Wallets all lead to added layers of complexity, allowing a greater number of attack vectors to exist that either have yet to be secured or may not be properly secured.
The Modern Threat Landscape is vast and ever-changing with cybercriminals using both traditional and advanced methods to commit Cyber Crimes.
Cybercriminals commonly target customers and employees using highly sophisticated Phishing Campaigns. Phishing campaigns often appear very similar to legitimate Banking communications; therefore, they frequently trick recipients into providing their credentials, One-Time Passwords (OTPs), and/or Personal Financial Information.
Fintech platforms greatly rely on the use of APIs for interconnectivity and the sharing of information. Unfortunately, API insecurity creates the possibility for sensitive customer financial information to be exposed and potentially for unauthorized transactions to occur. Misconfigurations, authentication of inconsistencies, and a lack of rate limiting are among many examples of well-known vulnerabilities.
Because they perform critical tasks and maintain extremely valuable data, banks and other financial institutions are frequently targeted by malicious attackers who attempt to gain unauthorized access to their networks via ransomware. Attackers can deploy malware through a variety of means, including phishing emails, malicious downloads, or compromised endpoints, and use it to steal data or disrupt operations.
Banks and fintechs use vendors, payment processors, and cloud solutions, placing themselves at risk should any of their third-party systems have a weakness that could allow an attacker to gain access to the bank's or fintech systems. Recent high-profile breaches that have taken place around the world prove this.
Malicious actions by employees, contractors, and/or business partners can all result in a security incident for the business or bank that they are employed by. Insider threats are difficult to detect since they occur in the context of a person having legitimate access to a system and misuse that access.
The Banking and FinTech sectors are facing new patterns of attack because of advances in technology.
Fraud implemented through Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become much more commonplace, with criminals employing machine learning technologies to execute and automate fraud and fabricate deepfake videos to solicit funds from victims. Additionally, funds can be transferred immediately through real time payment systems, which makes it very easy for criminals to commit fraud without sufficient time to identify or recover from the attack.
In addition to meeting risk assessment standards and requirements established by regulators, Banks and FinTech organizations are required to comply with various regulatory frameworks. Regulators continue to tighten compliance rules; specifically, with respect to data privacy, reporting breaches, and the proper management of risk. The failure of a Bank or FinTech to comply with regulatory requirements could result in substantial fines, and or, the loss of reputation, and customer trust in financial organizations (a critical element of the Financial Services Industry).
Ancrew Global Services (AGS), as a Global Partner, can help resolve many of the cybersecurity issues facing Banks and FinTech organizations by providing comprehensive information security services. Ancrew helps Banks and FinTech's meet their compliance requirements and understand the risk to their organizations through risk assessments and compliance alignment, as well as providing advanced cybersecurity incident response and threat detection capabilities that will help financial institutions protect and proactively respond to the rapidly changing landscape of cyber threats.