Cyber Security for

Financial Services

With banks, investment and asset management firms, credit card companies and fintech organisations all operating within “financial services”, it’s little surprise that cyber criminals see organisations across the sector as a prime target for attack. Often a significant part of a country’s economic backbone, financial services hold some of our most critical data.

£4.6 Million

The average cost of a data breach worldwide in the financial sector in 2024

 - Statista, 2024

Financial Services Sector challenges in the face of Cyber Threats

Protecting Valuable Data

As well as large transactions and financial data, financial services organisations hold sensitive information affecting personal, corporate and government areas. Failure to safeguard that data will have a massive area of impact. How are you minimising this risk?

Maintaining Regulatory Compliance

The financial services sector is bound by some of the strictest regulatory compliances with regards to protection of information. Ensuring compliance and cyber security will protect your organisation from significant fines and various other legal ramifications.

Managing Reputation

Most firms operating in the legal sector are heavily reliant on their reputation as trusted, secure and reliable in order to gain clients. Managing and maintaining this reputation is key to success and cyber incidents like ransomware attacks risk breaking this trust - many firms resort to quick ransom payments in order to limit impact.

Common Attack Types in the Financial Services Sector

Phishing

Phishing attacks employ deceptive emails, text messages or website links to try and trick individuals into revealing sensitive information like passwords or payment information.

Ransomware

Ransomware refers to malicious software that encrypts a victim’s data and demands a ransom for its release - particularly threatening to law firms who rely on their reputation and client trust.

SQL Injections

These attacks involve cyber criminals inserting malicious SQL code into web application input fields, exploiting vulnerabilities to manipulate database queries and potentially gaining unauthorised access to sensitive data. This can lead to data breaches, identity theft, and financial losses.

DDoS Attacks

A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack overwhelms a target server or network with malicious traffic that disrupts normal operations and prevents functionality for legitimate users.

Supply Chain Attacks

This type of attack shifts the focus to a supplier or service provider who operates within the supply chain of the main target - with attacks on the supply chain often easier to coordinate and potentially causing sustained damages costing millions in revenue disruption.

Protecting the Financial Services Sector from Cyber Threats

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Learn more about Cyber Security in Financial Services

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