Where Regulation, Fraud, and Adversaries Converge

Financial services is the most-targeted, most-regulated, and most-scrutinized sector in cybersecurity

Built for the Regulator's Auditor and the Adversary's Operator

Banks, fintech, insurance carriers, and asset managers operate under a uniquely intense overlap: PCI DSS, GLBA Safeguards Rule, NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500, FFIEC guidance, SOX ITGCs, NIST 800-53, OCC Heightened Standards, DORA (for EU operations), and increasing state-level breach laws. Meanwhile, the actual threats — wire fraud, BEC, ransomware, account takeover, Magecart-style PII theft, and nation-state targeting — operate at a sophistication and pace that compliance frameworks can't fully describe. Nomad's financial-services practice exists at that intersection: deliverables your examiners accept, with technical depth real adversaries respect.

QSA-accepted penetration testing for PCI DSS 4.0 (11.4) and FFIEC
Threat-led red team aligned to TIBER-EU, CBEST, and DORA TLPT
NYDFS Part 500 program build-out and Section 500.4 CISO support
Wire-fraud / BEC-focused phishing and social engineering assessments
Third-party / vendor risk assessment aligned to FFIEC and OCC guidance
SWIFT CSP CSCF compliance testing for member institutions
Financial services cybersecurity

Specialization Across Financial Services

Different sub-segments face different threats, regulators, and engagement patterns

Community & Regional Banks

FFIEC examinations, GLBA Safeguards, FedLine connectivity, Wire-room fraud testing. Cost-effective vCISO models for institutions under $5B in assets.

Large Banks & Holding Companies

OCC Heightened Standards, NYDFS Part 500, Federal Reserve SR letters, threat-led red team programs, SWIFT CSP, and 23 NYCRR 500.4 CISO program support.

Credit Unions

NCUA examinations, Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT) coverage, share-draft fraud, online-banking platform testing, and member-data protection.

Fintech & Neobanks

SOC 2 + PCI DSS dual-track readiness, banking-as-a-service partner attestation, API-first architecture testing, KYC/AML platform security, and FBO-account abuse.

Insurance Carriers

NAIC Model Law / Cybersecurity Insurance Data Security Model Act compliance, claims-system pentest, ransomware-claims fraud testing, and policyholder-portal security.

Asset Managers & Hedge Funds

SEC Rule 30 and proposed cybersecurity disclosure rules, trading-platform pentest, executive-protection programs for portfolio managers, and outsourced-vendor (fund-administrator) testing.

The Threats That Actually Matter in Financial Services

What we see in our incident-response queue, not the generic threat-deck

Wire Fraud & Business Email Compromise

The #1 dollar-loss category in financial services year over year. We test your wire-approval controls, vendor-bank-change verification procedures, and email-security stack with realistic spear-phishing and vishing campaigns.

Ransomware Targeting Financial Operations

Affiliates of LockBit, Akira, and BlackCat increasingly target financial institutions for both encryption and data extortion. Our ransomware readiness assessment tests your backup integrity, segmentation, and AD tier-zero — the exact controls these crews exploit.

Account Takeover & Synthetic Identity

Credential stuffing, MFA bypass, mobile-banking app abuse, and synthetic-identity onboarding attacks. We test your fraud-prevention stack the way fraud crews do: at scale, against your real authentication flow.

Nation-State & SWIFT-Style Heists

For institutions with cross-border or SWIFT connectivity: APT-style assessments aligned to SWIFT CSP CSCF and the Bangladesh-heist threat model. Threat-led testing under TIBER-EU / CBEST framework where applicable.

Frameworks & Regulators We Speak Fluently

Reports formatted for the bodies who actually review them

PCI DSS 4.0
Requirements 6.4.7 (custom software), 11.4 (penetration testing), 11.5 (intrusion detection)
NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500
CISO appointment, annual pentest, MFA, encryption, third-party risk
GLBA Safeguards Rule
FTC-amended program elements, qualified individual, annual reporting
FFIEC IT Examination Handbook
CAT alignment, examiner-ready documentation, audit response
SOX ITGCs
Access, change management, and ops controls for financial-reporting systems
OCC Heightened Standards
Risk governance, three lines of defense, board oversight
DORA / TIBER-EU
For EU operations: ICT risk, threat-led testing, incident reporting
SEC Cyber Disclosure
Form 8-K Item 1.05 material-incident readiness for public companies
SWIFT CSP CSCF
Mandatory and advisory controls for SWIFT member institutions

How We Engage With Financial Institutions

Service modules tailored to financial-sector buyers

Annual Pentest Program

PCI-DSS- and NYDFS-aligned penetration testing on a rolling annual schedule across web, API, network, and cloud. Reports examiner-ready, with optional re-test included.

Threat-Led Red Team

Red team operations aligned to TIBER-EU, CBEST, and DORA TLPT. Threat intelligence drives scenario design; engagements conducted under regulator-style controls.

vCISO for Regulated Programs

Fractional CISO services calibrated to NYDFS Section 500.4 and FFIEC CISO expectations. Examiner-facing documentation and board reporting included.

BEC & Wire-Fraud Testing

Spear-phishing and vishing campaigns specifically against finance, AP, and treasury teams. We test the verification controls your auditors hope you actually use.

Ransomware Readiness

Comprehensive ransomware readiness assessment with sector-specific threat intelligence and tabletop exercises tuned to financial-sector scenarios.

Incident Response Retainer

1-hour-SLA IR retainer with senior responders pre-cleared by major cyber-insurance carriers and breach counsel.

Financial Services Cybersecurity FAQ

Yes. Our penetration testing reports are accepted by QSAs for PCI DSS 11.4 (penetration testing of in-scope systems) and structured to FFIEC's IT Examination Handbook expectations. We provide the underlying methodology documentation that examiners often request as part of their review.

Yes. We are on the panels of Beazley, Chubb, AIG, Coalition, At-Bay, Travelers, and several specialty financial-lines carriers. For institutions whose D&O coverage requires panel firms, we likely qualify.

Yes — across the entire regulation. Annual penetration testing (500.5), vulnerability assessments, MFA validation (500.12), encryption (500.15), CISO program build-out (500.4 — including as your designated vCISO), incident reporting readiness (500.17), and third-party risk (500.11). We've supported institutions through their first 500.17 reportable event.

This is one of our most common fintech engagements. A single coordinated program covers SOC 2 Type II readiness, PCI DSS scoping and pentest, bank-partner attestation requirements (often modeled on FFIEC TPRM), and customer-questionnaire response. We typically deliver this as a 6–9 month vCISO + assessment package.

Yes. Our red team practice conducts threat-led intelligence-driven assessments aligned to TIBER-EU, CBEST, and the DORA TLPT framework. These engagements include a discrete threat-intelligence phase, regulator-style control of the engagement, and bespoke reporting suitable for regulator review.

Annual external + internal network pentest (NYDFS minimum), annual web/mobile application pentest per public-facing application, quarterly vulnerability scans (PCI), bi-annual social-engineering campaigns, and a triennial red team or assumed-breach engagement. Most institutions package this as a 12-month testing program with us — costs and scope predictable across the year.

Cybersecurity Built for the Regulator and the Adversary

Talk to a Nomad practitioner with direct financial-services experience. Initial scoping calls are complimentary.

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