The Hidden Risks of Fintech

Fintech is susceptible to cybersecurity risks that are hidden or difficult to detect. Discover the hidden risks of Fintech and how Isecurdata can help you reduce the security risks of your Fintech business.

No doubt that the adoption of financial technology services in the financial and banking sector has improved online banking and consumers’ online transaction experience. However, this innovation and transformation do come with hidden risks.

A PwC Global Fintech Survey revealed that 56% of respondents identified information security and privacy as threats to the rise of Fintech. Hence, the more Fintech grows in the integration of more sophisticated technologies, the higher the risks.

In a recent Cybersecurity Innovation Challenge conducted by FSI, several challenges faced in Fintech was highlighted with consequences such as new users remaining at the risk of cybercrime, hindrance in the adoption of Fintech amongst the unbanked due to cybercrime, usable security concerns leading to security breaches in Fintech, etc.

The above consequences are caused by the hidden risks in Fintech. Fintech deals with sensitive information about individuals and enterprises making it susceptible to different forms of vulnerabilities and potential cybersecurity risks.

3 Major Area Target in Fintech

• Confidentiality: Cybercriminals are interested in gaining access to the financial information of individuals and enterprises such as employees payroll, bank verification numbers, credit card numbers etc.

• Integrity: Cybercriminals are not just interested in gaining access but also modifying, altering or changing vital financial information that could profit them or be a disadvantage to the legitimate individual or enterprise.

• Availability: A total shut down of financial services is sometimes the priority of cybercriminals, this is either to speed up cyberattacks or to render Fintech services inaccessible to authorized users.

The Hidden Risks of Fintech

• Cross-platform Security Risk

The rise in the integration of technologies in the financial sector has created projections for malware propagation and given rise to new breeds of vulnerabilities to Fintech. For instance, it is possible to create payloads (malicious codes) that infect and propagate from one platform to another unnoticed.

• Cloud-based Security Risk

The adoption of novel cloud technologies becomes the solution to many organisations’ challenges of scaling and information management. Equally, most Fintech service providers adopt cloud solutions that provide them with higher scope for efficient information management.

The absence of relevant security or governance frameworks could create avenues of greater risk. For instance, when the cloud solutions a company ties up with is inefficient and unreliable, it can lead to critical security incidents.

• Application Security Risk

Fintech applications are used across banking and financial institutions to deliver seamless financial and banking solutions. When the principle of Secure Coding is not duly followed and security is integrated into every phase of the application development, this will open up avenues for greater risks.

Cybercriminals take advantage of weak application security to steal customers’ data and confidential information. The security of any Fintech software solution should be a priority right from the planning phase through the deployment phase.

• Third-party Security Risk

Most Fintech solutions are created with the integration of diverse API (Application Programming Interface) from various third-party service providers. When a Fintech solution leverage a service from a not-so-trusted service provider, it can result in losing sensitive data, experiencing service failure and other security risks.

Isecurdata is specialised in IT managed services and optimal cybersecurity solutions. With over thirty years of IT Security experience, we can help you to reduce the risk of your Fintech business to produce sustainable security resilience.