Expert Urges Banks and Fintechs to Take Proactive Measures Against Cyberattacks

By Benson Daniel

Banks and financial technology companies have been urged to adopt proactive cybersecurity measures as cybercriminals increasingly deploy artificial intelligence and sophisticated techniques to target financial institutions and their customers.

The call was made by a cybersecurity expert who warned that the rapid expansion of digital banking and financial services in Nigeria has created a wider attack surface for criminals seeking to exploit weaknesses in digital systems.

The expert said organisations could no longer depend solely on traditional security measures to protect their networks, data and customers. Instead, financial institutions needed to continuously identify emerging threats, strengthen their systems and prepare for attacks before they occurred.

The warning comes amid growing concerns over the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks in Nigeria. Cybersecurity professionals have reported that thousands of attacks are being recorded weekly, with financial institutions, fintech companies, telecommunications providers and government agencies among the sectors increasingly targeted because of the volume of valuable financial and personal information they hold.

According to the expert, cybercriminals are increasingly moving away from conventional methods that directly exploit technical vulnerabilities and are instead using legitimate credentials, compromised identities and trusted third party platforms to gain access to organisations.

This shift makes it more difficult for institutions to detect attacks because criminals may operate within legitimate systems without immediately triggering conventional security alerts.

The expert therefore advised banks and fintechs to strengthen identity management, access controls and monitoring systems while conducting regular assessments of third party service providers connected to their digital infrastructure.

He also stressed the need for stronger incident reporting and greater collaboration among financial institutions, regulators and cybersecurity professionals.

The increasing use of artificial intelligence by cybercriminals has further complicated the threat landscape. AI can enable attackers to automate malicious activities, improve social engineering campaigns and develop more convincing attempts to deceive customers and employees.

For financial institutions, the consequences of a successful cyberattack can extend beyond immediate financial losses. A major breach could expose sensitive customer information, disrupt payment services, damage institutional reputation and weaken public confidence in digital financial platforms.

The expert said cybersecurity should therefore be treated as a core component of business strategy rather than an issue left exclusively to technical departments.

He noted that Nigeria’s rapid digital transformation in banking, commerce and other sectors had made cybersecurity increasingly important to economic stability and institutional trust.

Recent assessments have also highlighted the need for organisations to secure their supply chains because vulnerabilities in vendors, software platforms and other third party services can provide attackers with an indirect route into otherwise well protected systems.

The warning is particularly significant as Nigerians continue to embrace mobile banking, digital payments, fintech applications and other technology driven financial services.

Financial institutions are therefore expected to increase investment in cybersecurity infrastructure, employee awareness, real time monitoring and response capabilities to keep pace with the changing threat environment.

The expert maintained that proactive protection, rather than waiting for attacks to occur before responding, would be critical to safeguarding Nigeria’s increasingly digital financial ecosystem.