By Natasha Lane/Contributor
The year behind us was a great time for FinTech businesses, as global investments increased more than ever, with $41.7bn invested across 789 deals, in the first half of the year.
The FinTech industry is a tempting one for cyber-attacks. Security breaches are not only bad publicity, but also a client turn-off.
Knowing that customers rightfully expect due diligence from anyone involved, here are a few security challenges you will face if you are planning to enter the playing field.
Synchronizing the vision and the execution
One of the first roadblocks on the way to starting a FinTech business is creating a project where the execution matches the original vision. To implement a security strategy and the entire business plan there is a need for establishing precise communication between the entire team and CTO. This is particularly important when you are operating with outsourcing IT provider.
Intellectual property protection
Intellectual Property Rights are a burning issue in the software development realm for nearly a decade. Patenting the final product and signing an NDA with the company’s team to protect the code are the things you can do for protection at the beginning. Later on, you can build a work atmosphere based on trust and respect for the team’s work.
Flawed safety mechanisms
You would be surprised how frequently FinTech providers put their trust in the Blockchain technology and its ability to protect itself, forgetting to double check their software safety mechanisms. Just like traditional banks have high-security vaults, your business should have multi-store protection systems. Before launching, you need to perform hundreds of security tests to make sure your software is protected in the most holistic way.
Hacker attacks
Like bank robbers, hackers often go for the places where they can find money, and FinTech providers are the ideal target. A good hacker can exploit even the most benign vulnerability to rob you of all the money, assets, and data. Consequently, you will lose the customers’ trust and eventually, go out of business. This is something that the developers should have in mind when creating protection algorithms and performing security checks.
Safety of the company assets
Regardless of whether your employees use company’s computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones or you are implementing a BYOD policy (bring your own device), such portable units are susceptible to theft and loss. The worst thing is that, when they are gone, the loss is not merely physical. They often contain confidential data, which, when accessed by unauthorized individuals can cause you to lose money, or even lead you to shut down all your operations. Strong passwords and multi-authorization processes are just the beginning of the protection. All devices should have apps that enable remote data erasing, such as Hidden for iOS and AndroidLost for Android.The money flow control
Unlike with traditional financial services, many FinTech users are anonymous, which poses the question of the receivers of the money. Is someone funding a terrorist organization, a questionable political option, a fictitious company? This challenge is a major issue that can be solved by mixing traditional banking principles with the need for anonymity.
Conclusion
The rapid growth of digital technologies made the FinTech industry mainstream. While this is a reason to celebrate, we should not forget that security threats grow as the industry grows. Always be on top of what’s new in the cyber realm and put supplementary restrictions on data storage.
Including governments to regulate this industry on the official level, might raise some eyebrows among the “free Internet” fighters, but it could also prevent any future security issues and is absolutely necessary in certain markets.