The financial services sector is one of the most heavily targeted industries for cyber attacks worldwide, because banks, insurers, wealth managers, FinTech start-ups and financial advisers all hold large volumes of highly sensitive data.
That makes these businesses an attractive, lucrative target for cyber criminals seeking financial gain or maximum disruption.
The cyber security regulations financial services firms must meet
Financial services is both a highly targeted and highly regulated industry. Long-standing regulations and standards already require firms of all sizes to have the right controls, processes and protections in place to prevent disruption and maintain critical services during cyber incidents.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has made it clear that it views operational resilience as being as important as financial resilience. This means that whether you’re a bank or a financial adviser, you are expected to meet the operational resilience and cyber security requirements set out by the FCA, PRA and Bank of England, alongside your data protection obligations to the ICO under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Together, these require you to take cyber security seriously across the entire business.
Additionally, companies with EU operations, EU-based clients or EU affiliates should also consider the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which has applied since January 2025, and while it does not apply automatically to UK-only firms, its reach can extend to UK businesses connected to the EU financial sector.
There’s a very real requirement to focus on risk management, incident response and resilience planning. Financial firms must be able to identify vulnerabilities, respond to incidents effectively and minimise disruption to customers and services.
Cyber security for financial services is now a board-level priority and a regulatory requirement.
But what does this look like in reality for all businesses that fall into the regulated financial services remit?
Protecting sensitive financial data from cyber threats
Client and customer records, payment information, financial transactions and account data are all highly valuable to attackers. It also means any breach of financial data carries a double penalty: alongside heavy ICO fines under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, organisations may also face enforcement action from the FCA.
Additionally, the reputational damage can be just as serious. After all, who will trust a company with their money and information if they’ve been breached? Along with the fines, there is the very real risk of losing customers, market position, and share price.
So, while protecting sensitive financial data is about proper compliance processes, it’s also about protecting trust.
As the threats facing financial organisations continue to evolve, the sector faces risks including sophisticated financial fraud schemes, phishing attacks, insider threats and attacks targeting payment systems such as SWIFT infrastructure.
Do you have the right cybersecurity controls in place to ensure that your customer data is protected?
FinTech cyber security: innovating securely
FinTech businesses continue to reshape the financial sector through innovation, agility and cloud-based technologies. However, rapid growth can also introduce new cyber security risks.
This is because most FinTech start ups build on public cloud infrastructure, making cloud security configuration a critical area of risk that must be addressed from day one. Misconfigured cloud environments, insecure APIs and weak access controls can all create vulnerabilities if security is not built into the business from the start.
Effective FinTech security means prioritising secure infrastructure, continuous monitoring and strong access management from day one.
While these regulations may not always apply directly to early-stage start-ups, they will apply to their customers and partners, so strong cyber security remains essential to protect data and win trust.
Essential cyber security defences for financial services
Financial organisations need a proactive approach to cyber security. Strong technical controls, regular monitoring and employee awareness all play an important role in reducing cyber risk.
One of the most important security measures is network segmentation, which is crucial to prevent an attacker who compromises a less secure part of the network from moving laterally to access critical systems like trading platforms or client databases. This helps contain threats and reduce the potential impact of a breach.
Alongside segmentation, organisations should also prioritise:
- Access controls
- Regular vulnerability assessments
- Security monitoring
- Employee cyber awareness training
- Incident response planning
- Compliance with the Data Protection Act
A proactive cyber security strategy is essential for reducing risk and maintaining resilience.
Key cyber security takeaways for financial services organisations
- Financial services is among the most targeted sectors for cyber attacks, and a breach carries both regulatory penalties and reputational damage.
- UK firms must meet operational resilience and cyber security expectations set by the FCA, PRA and Bank of England, plus data protection duties to the ICO under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
- Firms with EU operations, clients or affiliates may also fall within scope of the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
- Core defences include network segmentation, strong access controls, continuous monitoring, vulnerability assessments and employee awareness training.
Secure your business in line with regulatory requirements
Ensure compliance and maintain the trust of your clients.
Contact us today for a security assessment and discover how we can help strengthen your cyber security to meet the regulations and standards required.