5 Cyber Attack Vectors in Banking and How to Prevent Them

From stickups to hijacks, banks have always been a favorite playground for criminals—and cyber is no different. As banks and financial institutions continue to evolve their digital technologies from banking applications to sending digital checks, these advances make our lives as consumers easier. Still, they also create new risks to cybersecurity for the finance industry.  

Ransomware, phishing attempts, and zero-day exploits are everyday norms now. But they don't need to compromise your bank's security. Together we’ll review the current threats, emerging trends, and how proactive defenses can prevent a cyber attack on banks today.

Why Banks Are Prime Targets for Cyber Attacks

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The FBI received 3.26 million cyberattack complaints between 2018 and 2022, and the attacks have only continued to climb. On top of that, finance firms are averaging $5.9 million per data breach according to a 2023 IBM report in the ABA Banking Journal.

Not only do financial institutions contain tons of financial and personal data, but they also have tons of customers relying on them to safely hold and grow their hard-earned money. This makes the financial sector a prime target for malicious actors.

According to the IMF, there were 20,000 cyberattacks in the past 20 years, with the majority targeting banks directly.

5 Cyber Attack Vectors That Threaten the Banking Sector in 2025

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Here are the five of the most common and impactful cyber attack vectors in a bank to look out for and how to mitigate the risks without disrupting banking operations.

1. Social Engineering Attacks

Per a recent IBM report on FinTech Futures, 95% of all cybersecurity breaches involve human error. This is where social engineering attacks come into play. Threat actors leverage social engineering to trick employees, stakeholders, and users into sharing secured data like passwords or coercing them into clicking on a link to reveal such data to gain unrestricted access.

Learn what is a social engineering attack in our blog. Plus, discover more about the types of social engineering attacks like phishing, smishing, BEC, and baiting—along with steps to mitigate each tactic.

2. Executive Impersonation

Successful break-ins into banks and financial institutions have been seen more recently through executive impersonation. With this technique, the cyber attacker targets a specific bank and its executive team members. They often do extensive research and typically pose as a leader like a CEO, director, or manager asking for particular actions that will help in their favor to accessing funds or restricted information. They lure in the employee by earning trust to gain essential banking information to exploit or threaten to leak for ransom.

Discover how to get digital executive protection and prevent impersonation tactics through phone, email, or social media.

3. Malware and Ransomware Attacks

Malware and ransomware are consistent attacks to watch out for when it comes to cybersecurity in banking. However, these attacks are more complex and targeted with AI-powered malware. A threat actor can easily leverage deepfakes and personalized phishing campaigns to uncover vulnerabilities and gain essential financial data from both consumers and institutions.

AI malware and ransomware attacks make it easier for attackers to encrypt sensitive data and use new techniques for credential stealing—all while making it more difficult for traditional security measures and tools to detect.

4. Insider Threats

Insider threats come from within the financial institution where a bank employee, contractor, vendor, or partner with legitimate credentials either accidentally or maliciously comprises the bank's security. Whether it’s a disgruntled employee seeking revenge, someone looking for financial gain, or just negligence, employees can compromise security efforts that lead to data leaks as well as potential unrepairable financial and reputational damage for the bank.

5. Threats from the Dark Web

On top of those ongoing risks, banks face additional threats from the dark web where cybercriminals often sell malware, exploit kits, and hacking tools. They may also form communities to orchestrate ransomware and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to prevent access to organizations' own platforms and stop services to their customers.

Hackers may also leverage the dark web to sell stolen data and credentials so that other malicious actors can gain further access or deploy a cyberattack against the bank and its customers.  

Emerging Trends in Cyber Attack Vectors for Banks

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As banking technology continues to evolve, so does the technology for malicious attackers. Here we’ll walk through the emerging trends in cyber attack vectors for banks and potential signs to raise guard.

The Rise of AI-Driven Attacks

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used across every industry—and it's prevalent in cybersecurity. Cybercriminals are leveraging AI to create personalized phishing scams, generate deepfake videos, and enhance their social engineering tactics for further deception. And sadly, they're seeing more success.  

AI can also be used for web scraping bots, adaptive malware, and automated attack planning which can all go undetected by traditional security measures and tools.

Cyber Threats in Cryptocurrency and Digital Banking

With the new digital era brings the introduction of new threats and vulnerabilities to online financial systems including:

1.  Threats to Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies operate in decentralized and often unregulated environments making cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets, and trading platforms ideal for cybercriminals. Cryptocurrency is also vulnerable to cryptojacking malware which malicious actors use to access and exploit cryptocurrencies.

2. Blockchain Vulnerabilities

Blockchains come with vulnerabilities such as 51% attacks. For instance, if a threat actor gains more than 50% of the blockchain network’s mining power, then they are able to make changes to transaction records, reverse payments, and more. Blockchains are also susceptible to private key compromises, where if a user loses their access (either by loss or stolen), there is currently no recovery mechanism. Last but not least, blockchain and smart contracts are susceptible to coding errors where malicious actors can transfer unauthorized funds and run other exploits.

3. Vulnerabilities in Online Financial Systems

Aside from social engineering, insider threats, and ransomware, digital financial systems such as online banking are vulnerable to DDoS attacks, which halt operations until the security recovers the damage or the malicious actor receives their desired terms. Trojan attacks may also be deployed to intercept financial transactions and steal data. Lastly, if banks are not compliant with the latest cybersecurity regulations, they can face major fines and less-than-ideal repercussions on the business.

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How to Mitigate Cyber Attack Vectors in Banking

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To reduce their risk and mitigate cyber attack vectors, banks should focus on the following security efforts:

• Implement strong user access controls and policies with least privilege principles.
• Continuously monitor user activity to detect anomalies and suspicious behavior.
• Educate employees about insider threat risks and best practices.
• Run thorough background checks on employees before hiring.
• Create an incident response plan to investigate and respond quickly to threats.
• Follow compliance regulations for security, transparency, and accountability.
• Conduct audits and penetration testing to identify and fix vulnerabilities.
• Enable MFA for account access and transactions
• Invest in executive protection and brand protection software to prevent social engineering attack.

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Protect Your Bank from Cyber Attacks with Doppel

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Safeguarding your bank’s sensitive data, ensuring regulatory compliance, and maintaining overall cybersecurity resilience is quite the feat. But we’re specialists in cyber security in banking. With Doppel’s AI-powered platform, you can protect your financial institutions from evolving threats with real-time threat detection and advanced cybersecurity solutions.

Explore our platform to see how you can get complete digital risk protection. Neutralize social engineering attacks at their source and become a fortress of trust that’s ready for anything.‍Request a demo today to learn more.

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