In the FinTech industry, security and trust are paramount. Financial Technology providers, also known as FinTech companies, have enabled consumers worldwide to bank online, providing digital banking and financial services. Yet as we’ve grown accustomed to doing business online, cybercriminals have also grown accustomed to accessing sensitive information, deploying an increasding number of tactics to exploit and profit from businesses.

So how can FinTech companies ensure proper handling of sensitive personal and financial data? With a single vulnerability having the potential to cause massive data breaches, financial losses, reputational damage, and regulatory penalties, application security is an essential place for FinTech companies to start to protect their business from cyberattacks.

This blog explores why software security is vital for FinTech companies, what they should focus on when improving their security practices, the role of application security in protecting systems, and how SOOS is uniquely equipped to help FinTech businesses of all sizes secure their applications.

Why Software Security in FinTech Matters

FinTech applications process and store vast amounts of sensitive information, including personally identifiable information (PII), financial transactions, and proprietary business logic. This makes FinTech companies prime targets for cyberattacks. Key challenges include:

1. Evolving Threat Landscape: Hackers continuously develop new attack vectors, such as API exploitation, supply chain attacks, and ransomware.
2. Regulatory Compliance: Fintech companies must comply with stringent regulations, including GDPR, PCI DSS, and CCPA, which mandate robust security measures to protect customer data.
3. Reputational Stakes: Trust is a cornerstone of financial services. A breach can erode customer confidence and lead to significant loss of customers.

Storing massive amounts of personal data makes FinTech companies particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. The financial services industry is the second most attacked sector, according to Statista, and cyberattacks are expensive, with each breach costing the financial sector an average of $5.9 million. Lloyd’s of London estimated that one cyberattack on a payments system could cost the world economy $3.5 trillion alone, simply because of how many people rely on payment technology. But if you’re wondering if or how FinTech companies can protect themselves against cyberthreats, never fear. It is possible to implement security testing and monitoring to reduce the likelihood and scope of potential attacks, as well as to build a security-first culture that prioritizes software security and also recognizes that whenever something can be done without relying on a person to manually do it, the better it is for everyone.

What FinTech Companies Should Look for in Software Security Practices

To strengthen their defenses, FinTech companies can strengthen key areas of technology development and use, following best practices like:

1. Use Secure Development Practices

• Implement shift-left security practices by integrating security testing early in the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
• Use secure coding guidelines to prevent common vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and insecure deserialization.

2. Implement Open Source Dependency Management

• Open-source components are widely used in fintech applications, but they often introduce vulnerabilities. Regular scanning and updates are essential to mitigate risks.

3. Automate Vulnerability Management

• Proactively identify, prioritize, and remediate vulnerabilities across applications and systems.
• Monitor dependencies and underlying infrastructure for new vulnerabilities.

4. Use Encryption and Data Protection

• Encrypt sensitive data both at rest and in transit to ensure compliance with industry standards.
• Implement robust key management systems.

5. Ensure Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure software security practices align with compliance frameworks like PCI DSS and GDPR.
• Maintain detailed documentation and audit trails for security processes.

Application Security as a Key Part of FinTech Security

Application security is an essential part of cybersecurity for FinTech as it directly addresses the risks posed by flaws in software design, coding, and third-party dependencies. Benefits application security tools offer include:

1. Real-Time Threat Detection: Application security tools can detect vulnerabilities and threats in real time, helping organizations respond proactively.
2. Code-Level Insights: Application security tools identify weaknesses in code, ensuring that applications are secure before deployment.
3. Supply Chain Security: Application security platforms can monitor third-party libraries and dependencies, protecting against supply chain attacks by looking at all software components an application uses and ensuring they are secure.
4. Compliance Enablement: Comprehensive security measures simplify compliance with regulatory standards and build trust. Customers expect to see enhanced security and data protection measures such as those covered in industry standards. By implementing robust application security practices, you can not only demonstrate and maintain compliance, but also win business over companies that have not publicly committed to the same security standards.

How SOOS Helps FinTech Companies Secure Their Software

SOOS provides a robust application security platform tailored to the unique needs of FinTech companies. Development teams love the combination of comprehensive scanning that integrates into current workflows and can be set up in minutes. SOOS stands out because of its:

1. Comprehensive Vulnerability Scanning

SOOS’s Software Composition Analysis (SCA) scans applications for vulnerabilities in open-source components, helping FinTech companies detect and address risks in their codebases. Catch issues other tools miss by scanning deep in your application’s dependency tree.

2. Seamless CI/CD Integration

By integrating with continuous integration and deployment pipelines, SOOS.io ensures that security is embedded in every stage of the development process. Find problems early with CI/CD and Issue Manager integrations including Jira and GitHub, among others. Save time and keep your code secure by scanning on every build, auto-creating tickets for issue fixes, and applying business rules for prioritization. 

3. Unlimited Scans at a Flat Rate

With SOOS, scan whenever you want, directly from your CI/CD, all for one low rate. Because the best AppSec just runs with your tests, without you having to think about it or worry about extra costs.

4. Unified Risk Reporting and Management

Get a complete view of your open-source software risk while streamlining collaboration across teams. SOOS’s unified application security dashboard centralizes results from all tools (SCA, DAST, Containers, SAST, and SBOMs) and brings all teams into one centralized place to track and take action on vulnerabilities, compliance, and governance issues. This creates shared understanding and collaboration while saving time with related issue grouping, business rules, one-click integrations with developer tools, and more.

5. Business and Risk-Based Prioritization

SOOS ranks vulnerabilities and provides actionable insights so FinTech companies can focus on addressing the most critical risks first. Vulnerabilities are ranked by severity, impact, and exploitability, and features like In the News and configurable rules allow you to prioritize vulnerabilities based on your business, environment, and public sentiment.

6. Fast Onboarding and Dedicated Support

Start using SOOS in minutes and get peace of mind with the industry’s best support. We respond to questions and requests in hours, not weeks, and our application security platform is so easy to use that while you can always talk to our team for extra support, you never have to.

7. Easy Supply Chain Visibility

SOOS generates detailed Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) in CycloneDX and SPDX formats, giving FinTech organizations full visibility into their software dependencies. Tracking, validating, and monitoring first- and third-party components is a critical part of software security as without the ability to scan first and third-party software, and without continuous scanning so you can catch any changes, you’re only as secure as the thoroughness of a point-in-time scan. Instead, SOOS’s SBOM Manager automatically creates software bills of material, flags vulnerabilities, and allows you to attest to software issues when software components are first used and any time there are updates, keeping your code compliant and secure.

Conclusion

Software security is an essential component of the FinTech industry, as without it, customers would not trust that tools are safe for them or their customers to use. By adopting robust application security practices and leveraging tools like SOOS, FinTech companies can protect sensitive data, maintain regulatory compliance, and build customer trust without expending significant time or cost to get started.

Start your free trial and discover why development teams love SOOS today.