In the world of cyber security, the financial sector is the ultimate target. It is the epicenter where the motivations of all types of attackers converge - from common crooks, to organized crime groups specializing in large-scale theft, to state-sponsored APT groups for whom destabilizing the financial system is a strategic goal. The stakes in this game are no longer just money. At stake is trust - the most valuable and fragile capital on which the entire global economy is based. Any successful attack on a bank or FinTech company undermines this trust, bringing with it systemic risk.
This is why the financial industry has been operating under double pressure for years. On the one hand, it has to constantly fend off attacks from the world’s most creative and best-funded adversaries. On the other hand, it is subject to the most stringent regulation and oversight from national and European authorities, such as the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), the European Banking Authority (EBA) and, most recently, the landmark DORA regulation. Maintaining the highest level of cyber resilience in this dynamic, innovative and critical environment is one of the most difficult challenges for today’s security leaders.
Shortcuts
- Why is the financial sector a constant target for the most sophisticated cybercriminals?
- What are the key differences in the approach to security between traditional banks and agile FinTech companies?
- What key regulations and guidelines (DORA, FSC, EBA) are shaping cyber security in finance?
- How is banking malware (banking trojans) evolving and how to protect against it?
- Why has advanced penetration testing (TLPT) become a requirement under DORA?
- How does nFlo support financial institutions in meeting regulatory requirements and fighting cyber attacks?
Why is the financial sector a constant target for the most sophisticated cybercriminals?
The financial sector is the “promised land” for cybercriminals for a very simple reason: it’s where the money is in its most liquid, digital form. Financial motivation is the main, but not the only, factor that makes this industry so attractive.
Direct access to funds: Unlike attacks on other sectors, where the goal is to steal data that then needs to be monetized, a successful attack on banking systems allows direct theft of money through unauthorized transfers, transaction manipulation or attacks on ATMs.
The value of data: Financial institutions store huge amounts of extremely valuable data: personal information, payment card data, transaction histories, asset information. This data is extremely valuable on the black market and can be used to further targeted fraud.
Systemic significance: The paralysis of a major bank or key payment infrastructure (like clearing systems) can have a cascading, destabilizing effect on the entire economy. This also makes the financial sector an attractive target for state-sponsored groups pursuing geopolitical, not just financial, goals. The high maturity of security in this industry also makes it a testing ground for the latest and most advanced attack techniques.
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What are the key differences in the approach to security between traditional banks and agile FinTech companies?
The financial sector is not a monolith. It consists of two, often competing worlds: mature, traditional banks and nimble, innovative FinTech companies. Each of these worlds has very different characteristics, which translates into different security challenges.
Traditional banks are characterized by enormous scale, complex, often legacy infrastructure (mainframe systems alongside modern cloud applications) and very mature but sometimes rigid risk management and compliance processes. Their biggest challenge is complexity and technological debt. They must protect modern mobile applications while safeguarding systems that were built decades ago.
FinTech companies are agile, often 100% cloud-based start-ups that build their products from scratch using the latest technologies (microservices, containers, APIs). Their strength is flexibility and speed of innovation. Their biggest challenge, however, is their lack of security maturity. In the pursuit of rapid growth, they often neglect to build a solid security foundation, formal risk management processes and security culture, making them an attractive soft target.
What major regulations and guidelines (DORA, FSC, EBA) are shaping cyber security in finance?
No other sector is as heavily regulated as the financial sector. Cybersecurity measures here are not a matter of goodwill, but a tough legal requirement enforced by a number of regulators.
DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) Regulation: This is the most important and comprehensive regulation, unifying requirements for the entire EU financial sector from January 2025. DORA emphasizes end-to-end digital operational resilience, forcing companies to implement mature processes across five pillars: ICT risk management, incident handling, testing, vendor risk management and information sharing.
National guidelines (KNF): In Poland, the key role is played by the Financial Supervision Commission, which issues its own detailed recommendations and guidelines for its subordinate entities (banks, insurance companies, brokerage houses). These include Recommendation D on the management of information technology areas and security of the ICT environment in banks, or Guidelines on the management of information technology areas and security for other sectors.
European Guidelines (EBA): The European Banking Authority also publishes detailed guidelines that financial institutions across the EU must follow. They address ICT and security risk management, major incident reporting or outsourcing, among others.
How is banking malware (banking trojans) evolving and how to protect against it?
Banking Trojans are a specialized category of malware whose sole purpose is to steal online banking credentials and manipulate transactions. For years, their operation was relatively simple - intercepting characters typed on the keyboard (keylogging) or superimposing a fake login form on the bank’s website.
Modern banking trojans are much more sophisticated. They use “man-in-the-browser” techniques, injecting malicious code directly into the victim’s web browser. This allows them to modify the content of a legitimate bank site in real time. The user, logging into the real bank site, may see the correct balance and history, but when he tries to make a transfer for £100 to a friend’s account, the Trojan invisibly swaps the recipient’s account number and amount for £10,000 in the background to the criminal’s account.
Protecting against such advanced threats requires a multi-layered approach. On the bank side, anti-fraud systems that analyze transactions in real time for anomalies are key. On the customer side, it is essential to use up-to-date, next-generation anti-virus software (NGAV/EDR) and, most importantly, to apply the “What You See Is What You Sign” (WYSIWYS) principle - always carefully verify transaction details (account number, amount) in an independent authorization channel (e.g., the bank’s mobile app), not just in the browser.
Key cyber security challenges in the financial sector
| Challenge | Description | Key defense mechanism/regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Regulatory pressure | Very high and detailed requirements from the FSC, EBA and DORA, threatening severe penalties. | Implementation of an integrated risk and compliance management system (GRC). Regular audits and testing. |
| Advanced adversaries | The sector is a target for the most motivated and best-funded criminal groups and APTs. | Building a mature SOC 24/7. Proactive threat hunting. Threat analysis (threat intelligence). Advanced testing (TLPT). |
| Fraud | Continuous evolution of attack techniques against end customers (banking trojans, phishing, skimming). | Multi-layered AI/ML-based anti-fraud systems. Strong customer authentication (SCA). Customer education. |
| Innovation (FinTech and Open Banking) | The rapid pace of change, new technologies (cloud, APIs) and opening up systems to partners (PSD2) are creating new attack surfaces. | Implementation of DevSecOps principles. Rigorous API security. Third-party risk management. |
Why has advanced penetration testing (TLPT) become a requirement under DORA?
Threat-Led Penetration Testing (TLPT) is the most mature form of security testing, which has become a formal requirement for major financial institutions under the DORA regulation (and the TIBER-EU framework).
Unlike a standard pentest, which often focuses on finding as many technical vulnerabilities as possible, TLPT is a simulation of a real, multi-stage attack carried out by a specific type of adversary. The process begins with a threat analysis (Threat Intelligence) phase, during which hacking groups that actually pose a threat to an institution are identified, along with their tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs).
Then, the Red Team, playing the role of such a group, secretly attempts to accomplish predetermined, critical goals (e.g., “take control of the SWIFT system” or “steal the premium customer database”) over many weeks. The goal of TLPT is not to find “holes,” but to test the overall resilience of an organization - the ability to detect, respond to and stop a realistic, sophisticated attack.
How does nFlo support financial institutions in meeting regulatory requirements and fighting cyber attacks?
At nFlo, we have unique, long-standing experience in working with the financial sector. We understand its characteristics, the regulatory pressures and the nature of the risks it faces. Our portfolio of services is precisely tailored to meet the needs of banks, insurance companies and rapidly growing FinTechs.
Our core competency is to support compliance with the DORA regulation and the FSC/EBA guidelines. We perform comprehensive audits and gap analyses, helping to build the required ICT risk management framework, business continuity plans and incident response procedures. Our **offensive team **specializes in performing advanced penetration testing (TLPT), compliant with the European TIBER-EU framework, which is a formal requirement for the largest entities.
We also offer specialized security audits of mobile and online banking applications, verifying their resilience against the latest attack vectors. Crucially, we also help manage supply chain risk by supporting security assessments of key technology vendors, which is one of the pillars of DORA.
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