Introduction to the Fintech App Security Solutions

Fintech revolutionizes finance with mobile banking and bitcoin apps, reshaping how we manage money in our digital age. Fintech applications, such as those for mobile banking and bitcoin trading, have become indispensable in our daily lives. However, as these apps handle sensitive financial data, ensuring their security is paramount. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore ten essential fintech app security solutions that both developers and users should be aware of. By understanding and implementing these security measures, we can safeguard our financial transactions and personal information in the rapidly evolving fintech landscape.

What Are the Best Fintech Security App Solutions?

Suppose you want to develop a Fintech application. In that case, you should incorporate the most recent cybersecurity safeguards to safeguard your clients and keep their private financial and personal information out of the wrong hands.

Fintech apps may be secured in a number of ways, and the optimal approach to integrating cybersecurity into your app will depend on several factors. You are attempting to contact who? What kinds of personal and financial data are you planning to collect and store? Do you need various permission levels so that users can only access the data and functionalities necessary for using the app correctly? Creating a secure fintech app requires understanding objectives and scoping resources, whether in-house or via a development firm. Popular security measures include encryption, authentication, and regular updates.

1. Data Security Encryption

Data encryption is the method of transforming information into a code that requires specific keys to decipher. Encryption comes in various complexities, with popular techniques including symmetric and asymmetric encryption:

• RSA: An extremely safe asymmetrical algorithm that can be used with both private and public encryption keys.
• One popular method of encrypting credit card PINs is 3DES. 3DES splits data into 64-bit blocks, which are subsequently ciphered three times each. Still, starting in 2022, 3DES is progressively being replaced by more secure algorithms like AES-256.
• Twofish: One of the most used symmetric encryption algorithms, it splits data into 128-bit blocks and is available for free. There are encryption methods that are more secure than Rijndael, although they are a little slower.
• Your software development team will determine which sort of client data encryption is optimal for your fintech app based on its type and nature, and they will also explain why that particular type is the best option.

2. Firewalls

A firewall is a mechanism that keeps an eye on incoming data and stops bad actors or dangerous material from getting into the system. Imagine it as a wall positioned between the outer world and a safe. When information is received, it evaluates it to decide if it is safe to transmit.

A firewall, when designed appropriately for a fintech application, may automatically stop external and internal attackers from causing havoc on the app and obtaining critical consumer financial or personal data. This entails stopping a hostile actor from altering or blocking a customer’s access to account information in the first place.

3. Role-Based Access Control

When it comes to engaging with an app, various user types have distinct demands. Customers expect to be able to add and remove items from their basket, pay with a third-party service like PayPal, and submit support requests to customer service. Store owners require access to many “back end” functions of an e-commerce app, such as updating product listings and descriptions and adjusting pricing structures.

The same reasoning holds for financial apps, as not all users should or even want to have the same amount of access permissions. This is why having role-based access control in your financial software is essential.

For example, your app may include designated roles for technicians, customer care representatives, IT specialists, administrators, and customers. Different levels of access will be necessary for each function to carry out its intended duties and reduce the possibility that the wrong individual may obtain sensitive financial or personal information.

In this manner, the great majority of workers and clients won’t have direct access to critical information, and those who do will need to fulfill extremely stringent restrictions.

4. Precise Authentication Technologies

Enforcing robust and secure passwords for users is insufficient to thwart invasions from both the inside and outside. To increase the number of steps a user needs to perform in order to access the app without making the procedure too difficult or time-consuming, you need to take a few extra steps. Thankfully, an expert security testing team can assist with data protection in this way.

5. One-Time Password (OTP)

OTP systems boost authentication by generating unique, time-sensitive passwords for each login attempt. Users enter these one-time passwords to verify their identity, adding security to transactions.

6. Reduced Login Session Times

A brief login session is another useful strategy. This is the area where you establish a time restriction on how long a user may use the app before being eliminated and requiring them to log back in. This can leave hackers with little time to finish other tasks, including money transfers, and restrict the amount of time they have to obtain the information they may want or want.

7. Adaptive Authentication

An enhanced kind of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) known as adaptive authentication goes beyond the conventional method by examining a user’s behavior to identify questionable activities, even after they have logged in.

This suggests that in addition to confirming the user’s identity on the login page, the system will do real-time assessments during the session. The system could ask the user to generate a one-time password, input a code obtained over SMS, or finish a biometric scan before allowing them to continue using the app.

These safeguards are intended to apprehend cybercriminals who, while having been able to log in, lack the resources to fulfill further verification requirements that the system imposes during a

8. DevSecOps

Early on in the development process, developers must prioritize cybersecurity while creating finance software. Having a DevSecOps pipeline as a component of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is how to do this. Each level of development, from planning to design to coding to testing, entails making judgments on cybersecurity early and frequently.

In this manner, cybersecurity flaws and vulnerabilities may be uncovered early on and fixed. The groundwork for a robust cybersecurity system can be established before the program as a whole is completed. The development team will be able to comply with fintech security regulations, including geographically specific ones like the GDPR for Europe, with the use of a DevSecOps pipeline.

Why is Fintech Security a Problem?

Financial security breaches can occur from major mobile banking security issues in the architectural design of financial apps. An application that uses Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to connect directly to the bank’s backend service is what makes up a mobile-based Internet banking app.

These APIs are typically developed using open-source code, which is advantageous for app developers. These APIs occasionally have the potential to give mobile banking apps security flaws.

The irony is that these holes might not be reduced or closed by source code protections or web app security mechanisms. By creating their shadow APIs, hackers of mobile and online banking systems can profit from machine-to-machine communication. These shadow APIs don’t truly reappear as vulnerable endpoints, despite what the general public believes. 

What are the Risks Associated with Fintech Security?

The following are the top three threats to fintech security:

1. The Absence of a Unified App Ownership

App ownership is one of the most dangerous weaknesses in Fintech’s mobile banking services security measures. Typically, there are two owners in this case: one who acts as a bank representative and one who is a peripheral owner. Another owner of the app is the bank’s IT department. Apart from that, the creation of mobile banking applications and the management of its APIs are being handled by an outside party.

Due to the fact that the three owners listed above share accountability, this ownership structure presents significant security risks. This means that there’s a high likelihood that something will go wrong eventually.

2. Risky Data Storage

Every kind of mobile application you use retains some data. Fintech services companies deal with very sensitive data; thus, storage solutions need to be very secure to avoid vulnerabilities. This is the initial line of security against unsecured storage space, application code loss, and financial data leakage. If there is a security hole in your internal storage, hackers can access your private data directly and use it against you.

3. Communication Breakdown

Mobile apps must connect with external data sources like servers, NFC, Bluetooth-enabled devices, different authorization methods, and authentication tokens. This communication is necessary for the app to work correctly; you cannot avoid it. However, this behavior can put your mobile security at risk by disclosing your data.

These then were the different security flaws that financial companies, credit unions, and banking organizations face. Thus, development processes must prioritize security measures, particularly when it comes to Fintech. You cannot take the chance of losing the confidence and privacy of your consumers.

10 Fintech App Security Solutions

1. Architecture and Security Code

Including security at every stage of the app’s operation is essential to developing a dependable application’s logic. Preparing your security in advance and monitoring for any implementation holes are well worth the effort. Write clear and concise algorithms and review the code for errors or security vulnerabilities. To make sure the security is working, try everything one last time. Make sure encryption is used at all significant stages, particularly while transmitting.

2. Employ Obfuscation of Codes to Hinder Cloning

Cybercriminals typically make clone applications that are perfect replicas of the real ones in order to get the personal information of unsuspecting users. Fintech apps must utilize code obfuscation, which entails encryption and the removal of information, to prevent this.

3. AI and MI are Used to Monitor User Transactions

To prevent various cyberattacks, Fintech apps should stay current on all significant user behaviors, including user IDs, device data, IP addresses, geolocation, and transactional activity. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning may be employed to continuously monitor user activity, identifying both typical trends and strange actions. One example would be to stop transactions from an unknown and strange IP address that seems suspicious.

4. Create Safe Procedures for Authorization, Authentication, and Identity

The most prevalent sign of a security flaw is the absence of proper identifying measures and authentication. Fintech applications must be quite certain that personal information cannot be obtained by fraudsters by means of deception. This involves the following three steps:

Details about the username and name are necessary for identification.

Verifying an individual’s identity using passwords and two-factor authentication is known as authentication.

Granting people access to what they are permitted to do is part of authorization. Cyberattacks may be prevented by paying close attention to every detail.

5. Make use of Tokenization.

Tokenization is the process of substituting a randomly generated string of symbols, or tokens, for sensitive data that has to be safeguarded. A special database known as a “token vault,” which houses all the connections between the produced token and the original data, is only accessible to authorized users. Tokenization makes PCI compliance easier by safeguarding data in businesses and during online transactions.

6. Cloud Servers and Secure APIs

A secure infrastructure is the most crucial security feature for a Fintech application. Cybercriminals focus on cloud servers and APIs as vulnerabilities. Strong backend security prevents data leaks. Developers must prepare for security flaws limit third-part. Consider creating these parts from the ground up. If you need any sophisticated functionality, choose parts from reliable manufacturers and partners.

7. Safety-Focused Examination

Fintech app security requires rigorous testing at several extra stages and throughout the product life cycle. You have to concentrate on making sure that your Fintech application is evaluated as precisely as possible, considering safety precautions at every turn, regardless of the time constraints. Verify everything a second time for any possible vulnerabilities in identity verification, authorization, application speed, and data security. Verify in real time that the required frameworks and approaches are in place and that the application is operating as intended.

8. Ascertain Security Precautions in Routine Operations.

The biggest danger to the security of a whole business is employees who are negligent or improperly informed about dropped devices and system misconfiguration. To prevent any data breaches from the workers’ end, staff members should always be requested to utilize company hardware while accessing the back-office, as mentioned above, or development-related interfaces. Router configuration can be used to reduce the impact of internal assaults.

Assure a simple and speedy recovery in the event that a danger is identified. Additionally, please make an effort to watch your users’ app usage habits, get and evaluate their comments, and be open and honest with them regarding the security of their data and transactions.

9. Good Mobile Encryption Policy

Mobile databases should be encrypted to prevent local information from being stored. If you want your users and the mobile application to process data with many variations, you must concentrate on gaps, even if the data is only temporarily stored. Pay special attention to the design level as well as the efficient oversight and management of the encryption keys.

10. Hiring the Right Development Team

The work suits in the hands of the one skilled to do it. Thus, investing in an experienced programmer is one of the best strategies to avoid security attacks for Fintech apps. A professional and experienced vendor will ensure security and precision at every stage of programming as well as throughout the lifecycle of the Fintech app.

Top Fintech Security Technologies to be Used in 2023-24

1. Secure Access Service Edge

Security access service edge, or SASE, is a network solution that combines zero-trust network access, cloud security brokers, firewalls, secure internet gateways, and SD-WAN proficiency with cloud-native security measures. Furthermore, the SASE architecture helps with network traffic analysis and finds harmful digital data in scams, malware, and other types of fraudulent activities.

2. Artificial Intelligence

Fintech organizations are increasingly using machine learning to comprehend security protocols and financial data completely. Network traffic databases may be tracked by AI algorithms, which can also help detect malicious data streams, intrusions, and other dangers. AI also helps with the thorough examination of consumer data to identify the advantages, disadvantages, and other information of possible clients. This helps companies stay clear of dangerous clients and prospective criminal activity.

3. Digital Currency

The digital money known as cryptocurrency is currently at its height. It plays a significant role in blockchain-based decentralized financial systems. The industry is surprised by the speed, ease, and comfort of digital transactions, but the most advantageous feature of the Fintech sector is the digital currency’s security integration.

4. Regulatory Technology

The application of new technology to assist businesses in managing compliance with regulatory standards is known as “Reg Tech” or “Regulatory Technology.” In addition to blockchain technology, this technology gives customers access to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other tools that help businesses monitor their content and comply with regulations around financial security.

Key Challenges of FinTech app security

large security concerns and issues that large financial applications confront include communication breakdowns, unsafe data storage, and a need for unified app ownership. Common finance apps have extra hurdles from cyber attacks and clone identity revelations.

How can Highen help you Build a Secured FinTech App?

In terms of security, Fintech the banking and financial investing of the future—should not be disregarded. Concerns about data and privacy will continue to plague those in the sector. The only action you can take is to AVOID!

To dominate the industry, stay abreast of the FinTech as mentioned above app security procedures as your apps develop. However, you should concentrate on more than just doing action. Getting assistance from a seasoned FinTech app development company like us is one of the most crucial tasks. Yes, we are telling the truth! Our team of experts can easily and quickly develop your Fintech app while taking all security precautions into account. Thus, Contact our professionals straight away!

Conclusion

Security risks to the fintech sector are growing and changing along with it. Safeguarding your sensitive data and financial assets should always come first. You now have a better understanding of ten essential financial app security solutions, including safe coding techniques, authentication strategies, and encryption. Fintech developers and consumers alike may help create a more secure and safe financial technology environment by being aware and putting these security practices into practice. Keep in mind that security is an absolute must in the fintech industry—it’s not merely an attribute.

Are you interested in developing an efficient and secure fintech solution? Get in touch with our team to initiate a conversation about your project.