The threat landscape is rapidly increasing every day. Emerging technologies lead to the innovation of new attack strategies. And one of the most common targets for the attackers is banks and financial institutions. When it comes to cybercrime, the attackers tend to go towards money, which makes banks and financial institutions a common target for the attackers.

A security breach does not necessarily mean stealing money, but theft of sensitive user data and credentials, which can significantly lead to operational disruption and reputational damage.

To ensure such a catastrophic scenario does not happen to a financial institution, having a secure infrastructure is a necessity for banks and other financial institutions. A modern, secure financial infrastructure relies on a layered, defence-in-depth strategy that prevents attackers from launching a successful attack.

A secure infrastructure for banks and financial institutions ensures the security of the online and mobile banking platforms while also protecting the internal infrastructure from unauthorised access or successful data breaches. The sole aim of cybersecurity in banking sector is to prevent data breaches, financial fraud, and other cyberattacks that could compromise the safety and tarnish the reputation of the institution.

Importance of Cybersecurity in Banking

The banks and the financial institutions perform critical operations that are important for keeping the economic wheels running. Operations like handling complex transactions, managing and maintaining the financial data, and managing the sensitive data of the customers make these institutions a prime target of security attacks. So, any solution? This issue is addressed by the cybersecurity program that is designed for banks and financial institutions. The cybersecurity in banking program helps the institution in safeguarding sensitive data and preventing unauthorised access to the sensitive transaction records.

A data breach in a financial institution not only leads to financial loss but also leads to hefty fines by the regulatory bodies and loss of trust among the customers. 

By implementing advanced security technologies, monitoring systems for vulnerabilities, and educating both employees and customers, banks can stay ahead of cybercriminals and maintain the integrity of their operations.

The Cybersecurity Challenges in Banking

The major attacks that are faced by the banks and financial institutions are phishing attacks and social engineering attacks, and with the emergence of AI technology, the attack landscape of phishing and social engineering attempts is becoming vastly more sophisticated and personalised, making them significantly harder to detect. Some of the most common challenges faced by the banking and financial institutions are:

• Ransomware Attacks: Ransomware attacks are a type of cyber attack where malicious software is used to render a system inaccessible. The attacker uses malware and ransomware to infiltrate the security infrastructure and encrypt all the important data. The attackers then demand a ransom in exchange for a decryption key. A ransomware attack can not only stall the operations of the institution but can also jeopardise the information of the customers.

• Phishing Attacks: Phishing attacks are a type of attack that is based on deceiving individuals into providing sensitive information, such as login credentials, credit card numbers, or other banking details. An attacker impersonates as an individual from a trusted organisation to trick the victim into revealing their sensitive information, such as credit card information and passwords.

• DDoS Attacks: A Distributed Denial of Service attack, or commonly known as a DDoS attack, aims to disrupt the operations of the bank or financial institutions’ online services, such as websites, mobile apps, or payment systems. The attackers use a series of compromised devices to flood the servers with request that exceeds the servers’ capacity, which leads to a system crash that disrupts the banking services.

• Insider Threats: An insider threat is a major cybersecurity risk that originates from within an organisation. It involves a person who has legitimate, authorised access to the organisation’s networks, systems, or data who then misuses that access, either intentionally or unintentionally, to cause harm.

Compliance for Cybersecurity in Banking

While the banks and the financial institutions are governed by the regional regulatory bodies that have a set of guidelines to safeguard the internal infrastructure of the banking services, but apart from the regional governing body, international standards like ISO 27001 also provide a set of guidelines to the banking institution. The guidelines provided by ISO are to establish, implement, and improve security controls to protect the sensitive information of the customers.

Failing to comply can lead to hefty fines, reputational damage, operational disruption, and legal consequences

How Kratikal Helps Banks in Securing the Infrastructure

Kratikal helps in securing the bank infrastructure by using its advanced vulnerability detection and VAPT services. They can help with services like AI penetration testing, Network penetration testing, and Cloud Penetration testing. These testing services help the banks and other financial institutions to detect and contain any vulnerabilities in their infrastructure that can be exploited to launch a disaster-level threat.

Kratikal also provides ISO 27001, PCI DSS and other international compliance, along with regulatory compliance such as CERT-In Compliance audit and SAR compliance audit that guides the banks to design their internal infrastructure as per the guidelines set by the international standards and regulatory bodies, which helps the banks and financial institutions to safeguard the customers sensitive data and avoid hefty fines by the regulatory bodies.

Conclusion

As the attack landscape is increasing every day, the risk for banks and financial institutions is also increasing. It is crucial for banks and financial institutions to safeguard their system by deploying proper security measures, as they banks and financial institutions are the wheels of the modern economy, which also makes them a favourite target of attackers. As the risk of malware attack, ransomware attack, and DDoS attacks is increasing, not having a proper mechanism of cybersecurity in banking not only leads to financial damage but also leads to reputational damage, loss of customers’ trust, and hefty fines by regulatory bodies.

To avoid such situations, the banks and financial institutions must employ proper security measures to safeguard not only the transactional statements but also ensure the security of the customers’ sensitive data against any exploitation.