As we look at the remainder of 2025 and beyond, the pace and sophistication of cyber attacks targeting the financial sector show no signs of slowing. In fact, based on research from Check Point’s Q2 Ransomware Report, the financial cybersecurity threat landscape is only intensifying. Gone are the days when the average hacker was a lone actor relying on out-of-date malware and rudimentary tactics. Our adversaries are now highly organized, well-funded (often by nation-states) and increasingly strategic in their methods. And lest we forget, they’re also harnessing AI to develop and deploy ever-more hard-to-detect attacks.

Financial institutions, with their rich troves of sensitive data and sprawling digital footprints, have always been prime targets for attack. And while many organizations have invested heavily in cyber security infrastructure, they must now adopt a more proactive, external-facing approach to defend against a new generation of threats.

From Opportunism to Orchestration

In 2024, we witnessed a notable shift in attacker behavior – from opportunistic smash-and-grab tactics to coordinated campaigns involving deep reconnaissance, AI-powered phishing, and the exploitation of exposed third-party systems. This trend is only accelerating in 2025.

The digital transformation of banking, fueled by consumer demand for fast, seamless services, has led to an explosion of interconnected platforms, APIs, cloud-native systems, and third-party providers. This proliferation of point products has created tool sprawl that now leaves security teams with a large and dynamic attack surface that’s difficult to monitor using traditional perimeter-based security models.

Cybercriminals are capitalizing on this complexity. The use of Initial Access Brokers (IABs) has become industrialized, with specialized groups identifying and selling access to vulnerable systems. Often, these entry points stem from misconfigured cloud services, unpatched software, or forgotten web assets, all blind spots in many organizations’ security strategies.

Why External Risk Visibility is Now Critical

To stay ahead of these evolving threats, banks must move beyond firewalls and endpoint defenses and employ continuous external threat monitoring and risk surface management. This should include:

Real-time mapping of exposed assets – Understanding every piece of internet-facing infrastructure, from customer portals to marketing subdomains, is essential. Attackers only need to find one weak link.

Monitoring for digital brand abuse – Phishing domains, impersonation on social media, and rogue mobile apps can be used to exploit customer trust and compromise login credentials.

Tracking leaked credentials and dark web activity – Breached usernames and passwords, employee emails, and insider chatter often show up on dark web forums before an attack is executed.

Security teams need the tools and processes to detect these external threats early—before they escalate into breaches.

The AI Factor as a Double-Edged Sword

AI is transforming both sides of the cyber security equation. On one hand, security vendors are leveraging AI for threat detection, behavior analysis, and automated response. On the other, cyber criminals are using AI to scale their attacks in unprecedented ways. One alarming trend is the use of generative AI to automate social engineering. Threat actors are creating highly convincing phishing emails, generating synthetic voices for vishing (voice phishing), and even manipulating chatbot-style banking interfaces using prompt injection techniques.

Moreover, employees using AI tools in the workplace may inadvertently expose sensitive data. A seemingly innocent query to a generative AI platform could disclose confidential information that becomes part of a training data set – or worse, publicly accessible.

To mitigate these risks, financial institutions must implement strict governance policies around AI usage. This includes employee training, whitelisting approved tools, monitoring data inputs and outputs, and incorporating AI risk into existing compliance frameworks.

Investing in Identity, Zero Trust, and Threat Intel

While external visibility is vital, internal controls remain a cornerstone of any cyber security strategy. In 2025, financial institutions must double down on strengthening the essentials of internal security controls to stay a step ahead of attackers.

Identity and access management (IAM) – This is often the first line of defense. Implementing strong authentication, enforcing least privilege, and continuously monitoring user behavior can prevent lateral movement once a system is breached.

Zero Trust architecture – Trust nothing, verify everything. By segmenting networks and applying granular controls, Zero Trust minimizes the damage from compromised credentials or endpoints.

Actionable threat intelligence – Integrating external threat data into incident response workflows helps teams move from reactive to proactive. Intelligence feeds must be timely, relevant, and tied to specific vulnerabilities or misconfigurations in the bank’s own environment.

Security is a Team Sport

Another key lesson from recent attack trends is that cyber crime is becoming increasingly coordinated, requiring a new level of cross-functional collaboration between cyber security, fraud, IT, compliance, and even marketing teams. For example, when phishing domains target a bank’s customers, security teams must work closely with marketing and PR teams to coordinate brand protection and legal departments to take down the malicious infrastructure. Similarly, fraud prevention teams may spot early signs of account compromise that can inform threat detection strategies.

This collaborative approach must be supported by a culture of transparency, shared metrics, and joint incident response planning. The more cohesive the internal defense, the better positioned a bank is to detect and respond to external threats.

Conclusion

Financial institutions are operating in an environment where digital innovation and cyber risk go hand-in-hand. Security leaders must expand their field of view, shifting from fortress mentality to ecosystem awareness.

This means investing in technologies and partnerships that offer comprehensive external threat visibility, building resilient infrastructure that adheres to Zero Trust principles, and fostering a culture where cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility. We’ll also begin seeing even more organizations opting for platform security approaches to provide more visibility and control into their tools.

The stakes are high, but so is the opportunity. By staying vigilant, adaptive, and externally aware, financial institutions can not only withstand the rising tide of cyber threats but also emerge as leaders in digital trust and resilience.