What regulations for data protection in the financial services industry may apply to your application? How should software developers secure the apps’ code? What is AES? How to promote security at the enterprise level? Keep reading to learn the answers and tips on fintech app security solutions.
The global market of financial technology, valued at USD 133.84 billion in 2022, is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 19.50% from 2022 to 2030. It is driven by the exponential growth of e-commerce and the increasing popularity of digital payments and mobile banking apps. It is driven by the exponential growth of e-commerce, the increasing popularity of digital payments and mobile banking apps, and even the implications of COVID-19.
This makes fintech attractive for both startups and cybercriminals. Financial services companies deal with highly sensitive personal and business information, but their data storage issues, cross-platform malware contamination, data leakages, and other vulnerabilities often jeopardize that data.
The average cost of a financial services data breach is 5.97 million USD. Startups face a higher risk because they often lack the human and capital resources to manage fintech app security challenges.
The good news is that companies can follow certain fintech app security best practices to prevent many breaches. App development focused on data protection is a hallmark of a reliable and trustworthy financial services company and gives it a competitive edge. The whole company’s existence may depend on this.
Let’s start by reviewing some of the security challenges that fintech organizations face worldwide.
An identification, authentication, and authorization system should safeguard an app against any intrusion or suspicious activity. Still, password-based and even two-factor authentication (2FA) may be vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Fintech companies need robust mechanisms and procedures for regulating who can access, create, modify, and delete their data. Data ownership, i.e. the possession of and responsibility for data, requires the knowledge of multiple technical and legal processes and compliance with applicable state regulations and standards.
Hackers can exploit system weaknesses to access sensitive information. Unfortunately, most companies aren’t aware of the attacks and data breaches in their systems until it’s too late. The increasing use of gadgets and IoT devices complicates the management of these vulnerabilities.
Integrations with popular payment gateways, analytics systems, social networks, or chatbots can compromise the security of fintech apps. Hackers may use third-party access to replicate a legitimate user and access the system.
Many fintech companies have moved their operations onto cloud services for better performance, scalability, and cost optimization. However, the complexity and load of transactions in different cloud environments can make it difficult to supervise and protect data. The integration of yet another technology may create more vulnerabilities.
Malware attacks remain the prevalent type of security threats to financial organizations.
Human error is the main reason for successful phishing attacks. Lost or stolen devices also provide opportunities for cybercriminals.
Depending on a fintech company’s location and targeted markets, it must comply with different regulations in the financial services industry. Otherwise, it risks isolating itself from specific markets. Moreover, non-compliance may cost millions in lost productivity, business disruption, fines, and penalties.
Here are some of the regulations and standards you may have to follow:
Developers of fintech solutions need to manage both regulations compliance and data security issues throughout the software development process.
The following solutions and best practices can help your company address these challenges, build a compliant fintech product, and protect your customers’ and your business’s valuable data.
Read Also: The Importance of Data Security in Healthcare Software
The security of fintech apps is the collective responsibility of the financial company’s security officers, management, software developers, and others. Regarding developers, experienced specialists well-versed in fintech security standards, regulations, and technical means to ensure compliance and data safety are the best choice.
When recruiting specialists for your team, hiring remote developers, or outsourcing the development altogether, learn about the services they provide and examine their website, portfolio, clients’ testimonials, and any other proof of expertise in fintech app development.
Namely, the candidates should have expertise in the following techniques that promote fintech security.
Building a secure fintech app’s logic means integrating security into every step of using the app. At the early stages of your finance app development, you need to consider what data to store, where it will be saved, who will have access to various app features and data, and more.
Try to keep it simple. Bad guys can't steal sensitive information from your system if it isn’t there in the first place. You'll want to store only the minimal crucial data.
For instance, it’s possible to carry out payments without keeping the customers’ payment card numbers.
Secure code is the backbone of a fintech application. If your code has even the smallest vulnerabilities, your entire business may be at risk. Securing your software code includes securing the architecture, design requirements, code optimization, and efficiency.
The software architect and the developer who designs the code should consider input validation, authentication, passwords management, cryptography practices, proper logging and handling of the errors, and secured communication.
Every app identifies each user as the one that is either permitted to perform specific tasks or not. Your software is going to have functions accessible only to a few persons. Varying access levels can preclude unauthorized employees and customers from accessing your corporate information and the customers’ data. You will need a system for setting up user roles and organizing permissions.
Role-based access control (RBAC) restricts access to the software and network based on a user’s relationship to the organization. For example, a fintech app may imply the following roles:
Each user will have access to data and processes pertaining to their role and profile and will be restricted from other parts of the system and sensitive data within the enterprise.
Access control list (ACL) is an alternative system. This model lists all the actions a particular user is allowed to take.
The following practices are recommended when it comes to ensuring your fintech code security:
The code should be agile and easily portable between different devices and operating systems. This enables software engineers to act and update code promptly in case of a data breach or attack.
Choosing a technology stack for your product is also important. Besides security, it has to facilitate the product’s reliability, scalability, and maintenance.
Read more: Intro to Feature Flags in Java Using the Spring Boot Framework
Cybercriminals can create clones of fintech apps to collect the personal data of misguided users.
Fintech companies can use code obfuscation to protect their apps from cloning. The process may include encrypting some or entire code, stripping out potentially revealing metadata, naming classes and variables with meaningless labels, or adding unused or meaningless code to an application binary.
Such obfuscation makes it difficult for hackers to analyze the app’s code and understand the work of its algorithms, let alone decipher or replicate a designed software code.
If someone tries to steal your code, they will have to deal with its obfuscated version first. This will discourage some casual hackers who aren’t ready to put in much effort. Others will have to overcome a major hurdle to reverse-engineer your original code.
Code obfuscation also helps protect fintech solutions against unauthorized access, vulnerability discovery, trade secret theft, and bypassing licensing.
Identification relates to entering a name or username when a person claims to be a user of your app. Authentication should prove that they are who they are. After the system has identified and authenticated them, the next step is to determine what they are authorized to do.
Your team should design each step with special care. The trick is in enabling users to complete the authentication rapidly and with minimal effort without compromising security.
Passwords are still a popular authentication method. Basic safety parameters, such as enforcing at least 14 characters in length, mandatory use of special characters, password expiration, etc., are a must for apps with financial transactions.
Still, these credentials can easily be stolen or hacked. For instance, mandatory change of passwords every 2-6 months is problematic. Customers and employees may end up updating or reusing old passwords, making it easy for hackers to guess the patterns and hack their data.
Many fintech data security regulations require multi-factor authentication (MFA). In this process, users requesting access make two or more claims to prove their identity, and the system has to verify all these claims before giving access to the service.
Fintech companies should implement at least two-factor authentication. One common mechanism involves sending one-time code either through SMS or email. Push notifications that allow users to verify their identity with a single touch are another 2FA method.
It is beneficial to add biometric identifiers to the traditional username and password-based mechanism, verifying the user’s identity via a thumbprint, retina scan, or facial recognition. Adding biometrics into the authentication process significantly increases fintech application security while rewarding users with simplified operations.
Major fintech companies also use risk-based or adaptive authentication. The system may analyze the geolocation, registered devices, connection type, time of access, typing biometrics, and other behavior details of the person requesting access to detect any suspicious activity.
It’s also helpful to limit the number of users’ attempts to sign in and track failed attempts. It can help to detect and thwart hackers before they succeed in entering the system.
Upon authentication, an API may allow certain users to complete specific tasks and issue certain commands while restricting their access to other areas. Some common authorization methods include route assignments, bandwidth traffic management, and IP filtering.
It’s also beneficial to limit the duration of a user’s activities in the app. It should automatically log them out after a certain period. A shorter session lifetime reduces the risk of malicious access to your fintech data from an active session. Even if a hacker gains access to the account, they will have limited time to capture valuable data.
Ensure an appropriate security authorization level by setting up a user management engine. The user management console can list all actions and display all permissions given to access specific objects.
Dynamic PINs or one-time passwords (OTP) can provide an extra layer of protection each time a user wants to complete a transaction.
Fintech app owners need to be able to monitor all transactions and stop hazardous ones.
It’s recommended to keep systematic logs of user activities. The system should continuously record at least every user’s ID, IP address, device data, geolocation, and their actions and transactions in the app.
All transactions can be labeled as low, medium, or high-risk. You can utilize your own fraud scoring methods or combine them with third-party solutions. Suppose a high-threat level transaction is being initiated. In that case, the system would automatically decline the query, pause the activity, and notify the employees in charge.
It would be helpful if the system requested approval from several persons before a critical action, such as a large transaction or modifications in crucial information, can be executed. The choice between sequential and parallel approval flows may depend on the business process. This method helps reduce the risk of mistakes or deliberate attacks.
Major banking apps and financial services incorporate payment blocking features into their apps. Such mechanisms enable organizations to detect anything that falls out of the scope of a user’s regular activity, e.g., failed log-ins, withdrawing an unusual amount or from an unusual location, etc. Upon discovering such suspicious activities or instances of unauthorized access, it would alert the user and authorities in real time, block suspicious transactions, and after several such transactions, even block the account.
The logs of users’ actions need to be easily accessible during a potential ‘post-mortem analysis’ when the team reviews an incident. They should provide the basis for a proper incident report, including the complete timeline, incident details, and root cause analysis.
Your company can leverage Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to track, analyze, and manage the users’ activities. For instance, AI and ML algorithms can monitor patterns and discover anomalies in a user’s behavior 24/7.
Learn more: Anomaly detection in machine learning
Fintech app owners need to protect their data at rest and especially in transition, when it’s easier to intercept. They are strongly recommended to encrypt sensitive data during transmission.
Encryption involves mathematical algorithms that convert data into code that makes sense only to the intended receiver. Unauthorized users or hackers cannot decipher it without the correct decryption key. Therefore, even if they hack the data, they won’t be able to access any sensitive information.
Mobile databases should also be encrypted to protect locally stored data. Pay special attention to the proper management of the encryption keys.
If your fintech app is going to operate under US legislation, it should encrypt the following sensitive information:
Secure data transmission demands using various encryption algorithms. Their paradigm shifts regularly because hackers succeed in cracking earlier encryption protocols.
You may choose between several industry-tested encryption algorithms available in the market.
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
AES encryption extends support to both hardware and software and is resistant to cryptanalytic attacks. Considered as one the safest algorithms out there, it’s used by the US Federal Government and, reportedly, half of Android and iOS apps.
TripleDES (Triple Data Encryption Standard)
What is triple encryption about? This algorithm divides data into 64-bit blocks and ciphers each data block three times. There are also three keys of 56 bit each, known as bundle keys. TripleDES is the preferred method for encrypting credit card PINs and other kinds of passwords. Flexibility and compatibility make it a good choice for dependent hardware encryption.
RSA
RSA assigns different keys for the encryption and decoding process. The encryption key is public, given to others, whereas the decryption key stays private. With the increased key size, the strength of the encryption increases. This algorithm is slightly slower than the others but is still suitable for small-scale fintech companies that deal with limited data transfers and processing.
Twofish
This open-source algorithm encrypts data into 128-bit blocks through 16 rounds of data encryption. Twofish is widely used for network applications with frequent key changes and apps with little or no RAM and ROM involvement.
Tokenization is one of the safest methods of storing and transmitting sensitive data. It is basically replacing a piece of sensitive information that you want to protect, e.g., a customer’s credit card number, with a newly created random chain of symbols (token). Tokens are linked to the actual data in an encrypted way so that the original data can’t be reversed.
Only authorized users can decrypt the original information into a readable format. They need to access a unique database known as a ‘token vault’ that stores all the connections between the original data and the generated token. The token vault can be protected by database encryption to enhance the financial services app protection.
Tokens are generated for temporary use, preventing situations when someone can track sensitive data through transactions. Tokenization can be used with gift cards, NFC payments, online transfers, and so on.
Besides protecting data within organizations and online transactions, tokenization makes it easier to become PCI-compliant.
Building a secure infrastructure is essential to fintech security. You will likely design, develop, and integrate application programming interfaces (APIs) that mobile and web apps use to interact with back-end information. Cyber-attackers frequently target them as potential weak links. However, back-end API security can ensure that there is no data leakage and all the users have sufficient space for storing their confidential data safely.
It’s recommended to limit the number of third-party integrations or build these components from scratch. If you need some complex functionality beyond your expertise, choose components from reliable partners and vendors. In the latter case, the team should start the monitoring and maintenance of integrations as soon as possible and constantly watch for service updates. Developers also need a plan of action in case a vulnerability is discovered.
API security requires the provision of identification, authentication, and authorization for accessing APIs. Use authentication tokens as well.
One of the best practices for API protection is implementing an automatic regular API token rotation, e.g., by implementing the OAuth 2.0 standard.
You can secure your APIs by the following means:
Cybercriminals also tend to target fintech companies’ servers where they store user data, algorithms, security protocols, and other information. A compromised app can entail an attack on the server, and a compromised server can result in attacks on user devices and theft of their information. Consider the following security tips:
Create special spaces to store data and documents safely. The app developers should also apply Transport Layer Security (TLS) to all traffic and continuously run vulnerability tests.
Integration of a virtual private network (VPN) can provide additional security. For example, it’s possible to make specific services, pages, and other app components accessible only from hardware that provides a valid public key. Unauthorized devices should be denied access and blocked with a system firewall, antivirus software, or any other program.
Firewalls and antivirus solutions also can work together for securing your fintech app. Modern firewalls thwart web-based malware and intrusion attempts and offer better inspection capabilities and control over individual applications in a network.
Market-leading antivirus solutions offer protection from viruses, spyware, malware, phishing attacks, intrusive ads, spam websites, and other online threats, while continuously upgrading their capabilities.
While building your fintech app’s infrastructure, you may also take advantage of cloud solutions.
Public cloud services may be unsuitable for hosting sensitive data. If your app runs on the public cloud, at least choose a reputable vendor who complies with modern cloud security standards. For example, many businesses utilize AWS enterprise cloud that helps minimize the impact of DDoS attacks and accelerates disaster recovery in case of disruptions.
An organization may host data with high-security requirements on a private cloud and the other data on a public cloud. In any case, it is imperative to safeguard the cloud servers against unauthorized users and third-party access.
Read also: How to create a micro investment app?
Fintech app security requires rigorous testing throughout the development life cycle and a few extra testing stages. The standard testing process should include seven consequent steps:
Here are some testing-related fintech app security best practices:
A company’s employees may be its biggest weakness when it comes to IT security. Careless or ill-informed employees, system misconfiguration, lost devices, or even accidental clicking on a malicious URL are just some of the ways to compromise the whole organization’s security.
Still, you can take some precautions to reduce the risks:
...and so forth. Best practices and detailed tips should be easy to find on your company’s website. Regularly update your customers regarding their data and transactions security, ask for and analyze their feedback, and monitor their app usage habits and time.
Organizations are increasingly building real-time, proactive threat intelligence capabilities now. Regulations like GDPR mandate that businesses report a data breach within 72 hours, and early detection can help retrieve stolen credentials sooner.
Just like healthcare apps, modern fintech solutions have to embrace the “compliance-as-code” approach. It means integrating audits and compliance with regulations like PCI DSS and GDPR directly into their DevOps processes. Thus, they translate security controls into code and templates and break the silos between the information security, development, and operations teams.
Fintech is definitely the future of finance and banking, but numerous problems still plague the industry. Data and privacy will continue to be one of the main issues associated with fintech apps.
Security and protection of the customers’ data should be at the forefront of fintech development; neglecting it can be devastating. A company’s data is also subject to data breaches and leaks.
This concern should permeate every step in the software development life cycle. Some of the ways to improve fintech security include:
However, first and foremost, you need to hire the right staff for your project. Developing a secure fintech app requires diverse programming skills and considerable project management and information security efforts. Experienced developers are aware of all the technical challenges and fintech security standards imposed by various authorities and can realize effective solutions for the same on time and within budget.
Without the relevant expertise and skills on board, your project risks exceeding the budget, taking off too late, and eventually failing due to technical defects and non-compliance with national and international fintech security requirements.
Hundreds of companies from around the world have been outsourcing software development to Onix since 2000. We offer senior tech talent and product development expertise to build top-notch software, including sophisticated but reliable fintech solutions.
We can build a software platform from scratch or help improve your existing product at a reasonable price. Startups that look to hire remote developers for their projects are welcome too.
Do you need help or experts to protect your fintech app’s users and data? Just drop us a line!
Many thanks to Vitaliy Lavrinenko for the help with this article!
Why should I protect my fintech app?
How to protect financial services apps?
The security of financial service apps is the collective responsibility of the financial company’s security officers, management, employees, software developers, and even users. The organization needs to take measures for data protection at all levels, such as:
A fintech development agency like Onix can help you:
What are the primary security best practices for fintech application development?