FOR BANKS, INSURERS AND FINANCIAL SERVICES

Financial services cyber security for the moment a convincing request arrives

Security awareness training and phishing simulations for banks, insurers and financial firms
Lessons of a few minutes each month, with content for payments, IT and the management body
A programme aligned with DORA, ISO/IEC 27001 and GDPR that tracks behaviour change over time

How SoSafe helps

Solutions for your financial services cyber security risks

Training time that fits the year

When cyber training has to fit into a few hours a year, lessons of one to eight minutes spread it across the months. People build secure habits without leaving their desk or phone line for long.

Simulations that learn from each response

A supplier reports new bank details, or a “colleague” needs a transfer before the cut-off. Our phishing simulations by email and SMS use lures like these, and by email each miss shapes what comes next.

Figures the management body can follow

Under DORA, the management body is responsible for ICT risk. The Human Security Index turns simulations, reported threats and learning progress into one figure it can follow across the year.

SoSafe learning path with achievements beside an interactive lesson asking what to do about a QR code on a café table

Simulated phishing email in Outlook with a SoSafe hint explaining how to spot a counterfeit sender

SoSafe Human Security Index dashboard with awareness, behaviour and culture scores and suggested interventions

Training time that fits the year

When cyber training has to fit into a few hours a year, lessons of one to eight minutes spread it across the months. People build secure habits without leaving their desk or phone line for long.

Simulations that learn from each response

Figures the management body can follow

Under DORA, the management body is responsible for ICT risk. The Human Security Index turns simulations, reported threats and learning progress into one figure it can follow across the year.

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THE CHALLENGE

Where attacks on financial firms usually begin

A payment request that looks routine

In ENISA’s analysis of incidents in the EU during 2025, credit institutions accounted for 61.9% of the incidents in the finance sector, and fraud and impersonation for 14.8% (ENISA Threat Landscape 2026, September 2026). Many attacks need nothing more than a believable request: an invoice with new account details, or an email from the “CEO” asking for a confidential transfer. CEO fraud works because it looks like ordinary payment work.

The caller who sounds right

A “customer” calls the contact centre to change a phone number shortly before a large transfer. Someone from “IT” asks the service desk to reset multi-factor authentication. The same ENISA report describes vishing campaigns in which attackers posed as IT staff to steal single sign-on credentials and MFA codes, and voice cloning makes such calls harder to question. Calling back on a known number often exposes them.

Ransomware and stolen customer data

Ransomware can take core banking, claims or payment systems offline for days, and stolen customer data leads to regulatory and reputational damage as well. The first step is often an email that someone opened on an ordinary working day.

Access through ICT providers

Cloud providers, software vendors and outsourcing partners often hold access to critical systems, and DORA treats ICT third-party risk in a chapter of its own. For cyber security in financial services, a stolen partner login is a particular risk because it looks legitimate. An employee who questions an unusual request can stop an attack early.

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COMPLIANCE AND AUDIT-READINESS

What DORA expects from people, and how SoSafe supports it

For financial services cyber security, DORA makes ICT security awareness programmes and resilience training compulsory for all staff and senior management, and management body members must train regularly. SoSafe helps you demonstrate both with a programme aligned with DORA, ISO/IEC 27001 and GDPR.

GDPR/DSGVO

ISO/IEC 27001

NIS2

KRITIS

CER Directive

HDS

WHO GETS TRAINED

Role-based training for cyber security in financial services

In branches and contact centres

Customer-facing staff hear the most convincing stories. A caller wants to change the phone number on someone else’s account, or a visitor pushes for an urgent withdrawal on a relative’s behalf. Lessons practise the checks that stop such requests, a core part of cyber security in the banking sector.

In payments, treasury and accounting

These teams release money, so attackers copy the documents they handle every day. It might be a changed IBAN on a supplier invoice or a confidential transfer requested just before the payment cut-off. Simulations use exactly these patterns, and your own approval rules can become a lesson.

In IT and at the service desk

Administrators go deeper into privileged access, handling credentials and how an incident is triaged. The service desk practises one question above all: is the person asking for a password or MFA reset really who they claim to be?

In the management body

Board members and senior managers get a shorter track on their role in cyber security. Lessons built from your own documents can add what DORA expects of the management body and how your ICT risk management framework works in practice.

Our product

How SoSafe works day-to-day

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Lessons in monthly doses

Lessons adapt to role, prior knowledge and risk profile. A claims handler and a network administrator see different content, a few minutes at a time, on a desktop or a phone and in 34+ languages.

Smartphone showing a short SoSafe security lesson in progress with a progress bar

From reported email to simulation

When a phishing email reaches your organisation, such as a fake payment reminder, the security team can rebuild it as a simulation within minutes and send it to the people it targeted.

SoSafe phishing simulation editor with a draft email imitating a supplier

A practice call in the browser

The Interactive Vishing Lesson ends with a realistic call in the browser, such as one from “IT support”. No phone numbers are needed. It builds the habit of checking but records no failure rate.

Interactive vishing lesson showing an incoming IT support call beside the response options in the browser

One click to report

The report button sits in the email client. One click sends a suspicious message to a single triage queue, where the security team reviews all reports together and decides what needs action.

The SoSafe report button in an email toolbar with a cursor selecting it

Your own rules as lessons

Upload a policy as a PDF, such as the callback rule for changed bank details. SoSafe turns it into an editable lesson draft, and your team checks it against your internal rules before publishing.

SoSafe Policy-to-Lesson view turning an uploaded policy into a security lesson

Evidence for audit and the board

Training and simulation reports help you prepare for audits. The Human Security Index shows internal audit and the management body how human risk develops across the organisation over time.

SoSafe Human Security Index dashboard with awareness, behaviour and culture scores over time

“Before SoSafe, quantifying our team’s cyber vulnerabilities was a challenge. The analytics from SoSafe have been a game-changer for us, enabling us to measure human risk, which has become an integral part of our security strategy. We’ve seen a remarkable 40% reduction in our simulation click rates and higher Behavior Score levels, clearly demonstrating the value of SoSafe’s training.”

Thorsten Seban

Information Security Officer at VR Bank Fulda, a bank with more than 360 employees

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88%

knowledge retention after 12 months

90%

reduction in risky interactions

80%

reporting threats within 12 months

15 min

per week to run the full programme

Measurable impact for banks and insurers

In financial services cyber security, the management body needs evidence that behaviour changes, not only that training took place. SoSafe is trusted by more than 6,000 organisations worldwide, and the figures below come from aggregated data across their live programmes in all sectors.

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Connected to the systems financial firms already run

Financial services cyber security works best inside the tools people already use. SoSafe connects with your identity provider, your service management and the collaboration tools your teams work in, so the programme runs within your existing environment.

Integrations

See all the integrations

Phishing simulation integration with Microsoft 365

Compliance

See all our certifications

GDPR Compliant

German Engineered

EU Hosted

Financial services cyber security FAQs

The biggest cyber security threats in the financial and banking sector include unauthorised access, DDoS attacks, and fraud and impersonation, according to the ENISA Threat Landscape 2026. Many of these attacks begin with phishing or a fake call, which puts people at the centre of financial services cyber security.

Banks and financial institutions are a target for cyber attacks because they hold money, customer data and access to payment systems. Any outage is noticed at once, and trust suffers quickly. Cyber security in the banking sector therefore depends on every employee who handles payments, accounts or customer calls.

Yes, DORA requires security awareness training for financial services. For most financial entities, Article 13(6) makes ICT security awareness programmes and digital operational resilience training compulsory for all staff and senior management, and Article 5(4) asks members of the management body to train regularly. Where banks also fall under NIS2, DORA applies as the more specific law.

The cyber security measures banks should take combine technology, processes and people. Good cybersecurity for financial institutions includes multi-factor authentication, tested backups, oversight of ICT providers and a clear incident process. Regular training and phishing simulations help staff recognise attacks early and report them quickly.

Financial services firms choosing a security awareness training provider should first check whether the programme is aligned with DORA and whether reports show behaviour change, not only completion. Role-based content and low admin effort matter as well. Several providers offer this. SoSafe approaches financial services cyber security as Human Risk Management.

Licensing for a financial group with several entities depends on your total workforce and the package you choose. Users can be added mid-term, and multi-year commitments protect the agreed price for their full term. Request pricing for a quote that covers your group structure and planned additions.

You can show the management body that training changes behaviour by tracking what people do, not what they complete. The Human Security Index combines simulation responses, reported threats and learning progress into one figure that shows the trend and which teams need attention. At VR Bank Fulda, interactions with phishing emails fell by 40% within six months.

Each employee needs only a few minutes of training time per lesson. Lessons last one to eight minutes and can be spread across the year, one or two a month. That fits tight training budgets better than a single long session and keeps the topic present between campaigns.

SoSafe prepares staff for fake calls and cloned voices with lessons on vishing and voice cloning. In the Interactive Vishing Lesson, people practise a realistic call in the browser without sharing a phone number. It is training within a lesson and does not track failure rates like email or SMS simulations.

A small GRC team can get a financial services cyber security programme running in as little as two days. Day-to-day operation then takes from 15 minutes a week: campaigns run on a schedule, single sign-on handles access, and reported messages arrive in one triage queue.