Cybersecurity in Fintech: 3 major risks, and how to tackle them

Thanks to the rise in crypto, trading and other financial activities, the interest in – and need for – Fintechs is at an all-time high. This chatter and excitement isn’t going unnoticed by cybercriminals, who are launching more and more attacks on Fintechs who don’t have proper cybersecurity in place.

We called on the experts at ESET to walk us through 3 Fintech cybersecurity risks, plus tangible ways to protect your business.

#1 Cloud security issues

Many Fintechs rely on cloud-based platforms to process payments, maintain digital wallets and provide banking services. It makes sense: the cloud is convenient, accessible and scalable, and it allows you to connect with clients wherever they are in the world. On the flip side, it also means that the cloud is a prime target for hackers who want to get their hands on the sheer amount of data stored on it.

In terms of cybersecurity, most cloud services fall short. Many platforms don’t offer secure encryption or authentication, and some can’t tell the difference between authorised and unauthorised users. It’s important to configure your cloud security so hackers can’t bypass your internal policies and access your company’s and clients’ sensitive information. ESET Cloud Office Security can protect your cloud from malware and other issues, plus it has a predictive security function that flags and addresses cyber attacks before they happen.

#2 Malware attacks and identity theft

In a nutshell, Fintechs focus on digitising financial services, which streamlines operations and makes client transactions easier. In doing that, companies handle a lot of personal and confidential information on a day-to-day basis, which makes us vulnerable to hackers.

Why? Cybercriminals only need a few pieces of personally identifiable information (PII) to carry out a range of cyber attacks. These include carrying out identity theft, running phishing scams or installing ransomware or malware on various computers. Some hackers even launch cross-site scripting (XXS) attacks on Fintechs, which involves uploading malicious code to your site.

To be successful and maintain our clients’ trust, we all need to strengthen our Fintech cybersecurity and make sure we’re protected against data breaches.

ESET recommend taking these steps as soon as possible:

• Encrypt your files. In an ideal world, all of your company’s personal and financial data should be end-to-end encrypted, with access limited to authorised users who need that information to do their jobs. Most computers, tablets and smartphones have operating systems that automatically encrypt stored data, but it’s worth investing in a third-party, cloud-based platform for additional security. ESET Protect Complete and ESET Protect Advanced offer endpoint encryption and business fraud protection for companies of all sizes, as well as antivirus software.

• Maintain two backups. For any business, the worst thing about falling victim to a cyberattack is losing data or dealing with corrupted data. To prevent this from happening, keep two backups of your most important files: one on an external hard drive or flash drive, and another on the cloud. This will also protect you in case of a server crash.

• Instruct remote employees to connect to a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The remote workforce is here to stay, and if you have employees working from home, a VPN is key. These networks will encrypt the data they send and receive and hide their IP addresses to keep browsing activities private.

• Activate multi-factor authentication (MFA) on company accounts. Chances are, you already have two-factor authentication in place. That’s great, but multi-factor authentication is better because it adds an extra layer of security. With MFA, your team and clients will need to enter their username, password and one more piece of information — such as a code texted to their phone — to log in to systems. It’s easy to set up MFA and stay compliant with ESET’s Secure Authentication, a feature you’ll find in ESET Protect Complete and ESET Protect Advanced, the best fraud protection.

#3 Prioritising convenience over cybersecurity

The Fintech industry is moving at a lightning speed, and consumers want access to new and exciting financial products quickly. As businesses, it’s natural for us to want to keep up with that demand, but as Fintechs, we also need to answer to regulatory bodies and compliance requirements.

What does this mean? We need to find a balance between responsiveness and cybersecurity in Fintech. Don’t stop innovating and creating new products and services, but make sure you carve out time to secure those systems so you can launch with confidence. ESET’s identity & data protection has a handy checklist to ensure you won’t miss a step.

Step up your cybersecurity with ESET

When you’re at a Fintech, cybersecurity is an ongoing effort. The more sophisticated our businesses become, the more vigilant we need to be about security.

Not sure where to start?

Contact ESET’s expert team today to learn about the best solutions for your Fintech.