Financial services firms have always operated in a highrisk environment, but the last decade has transformed the nature of that risk. Cybercriminals have become more organised, more persistent, and more commercially motivated. Regulators have sharpened their expectations. Customers have become less tolerant of disruption. And the operational complexity of modern FS environments – hybrid working, cloud adoption, thirdparty platforms – has created new layers of exposure that didn’t exist even a few years ago.
In this climate, cyber resilience is no longer a technical conversation. It is a strategic, operational, and regulatory priority. Boards are asking tougher questions. The FCA is demanding clearer evidence. And firms are recognising that resilience is not simply about preventing attacks; it’s about ensuring continuity of service, protecting customer trust, and maintaining market integrity.
At ERGOS, we work closely with accountancy practices, wealth managers, insurance brokers, fintechs, and other regulated firms across the UK. The message we hear consistently is that leaders want clarity. They want to understand what “good” looks like. They want to know where to invest. And they want practical steps that strengthen resilience without overwhelming their teams. This article explores why FS firms remain prime targets, what the FCA expects, why SIEM + MDR is becoming the new baseline, and what firms can do now to build a more resilient security posture.
Financial services firms remain prime targets for cybercrime
Cybercriminals go where the value is. Financial services firms hold sensitive personal data, transactional information, payment details, and intellectual property. They operate hightrust customer relationships and are deeply interconnected with suppliers, partners, and digital platforms. This makes them attractive targets for attackers who want financial gain, data theft, or operational disruption.
But the threat is not only about the value of the data. It’s also about the pressure points within FS operations. Even a short period of downtime can cause missed transactions, delayed client reporting, regulatory breaches, and reputational damage. Attackers understand the commercial and regulatory pressure that firms face, and they design campaigns specifically to exploit it.
Phishing and business email compromise remain some of the most common attack vectors. These campaigns have become highly personalised, often mimicking clients, suppliers, or senior staff with alarming accuracy. A single compromised mailbox can lead to fraudulent payments, data exposure, or access to internal systems. Ransomware continues to be one of the most damaging threats, with attackers not only encrypting data but also targeting backups, disrupting lineofbusiness systems, and threatening to leak sensitive information. For firms that rely on continuous access to customer records, trading platforms, or financial data, the impact can be severe.
Identitybased attacks are also on the rise. With more systems in the cloud and more staff working remotely, identity has become the new perimeter. Attackers use credential harvesting, bruteforce attempts, and MFA fatigue techniques to gain access to accounts that hold sensitive data or administrative privileges. Once inside, they move laterally, escalate privileges, and quietly prepare for a larger attack.
Supplychain attacks add another layer of complexity. FS firms rely heavily on thirdparty platforms – CRM systems, accounting software, payment processors, cloud services. Attackers increasingly target these suppliers, knowing that a single vulnerability can give them access to multiple firms at once. Even when the firm itself has strong controls, a weak link in the supply chain can create significant exposure.
The reality is that many FS firms still rely on traditional security controls – firewalls, antivirus, and periodic patching. These remain important, but they were never designed to detect or respond to the level of sophistication we see today. Modern attacks are multistage, automated, persistent, and designed to evade basic detection. Static defences cannot keep pace. Firms need realtime visibility, continuous monitoring, and expertled response to identify threats before they escalate.
FCA expectations around operational resilience are rising
The FCA’s operational resilience framework has fundamentally changed how regulated firms must think about cyber risk. It is no longer enough to have policies, controls, and documentation. Firms must be able to demonstrate that they can prevent, adapt, respond to, recover from, and learn from operational disruptions – including cyber incidents.
The FCA expects firms to identify their important business services and understand the systems, data, people, and suppliers that support them. This mapping exercise is not a oneoff task; it must be kept current as environments evolve. Firms must also set clear impact tolerances – realistic thresholds for how long they can tolerate disruption – and they must be able to evidence that they can remain within those tolerances during a severe but plausible scenario.
Detection and response capabilities are a major area of regulatory focus. The FCA wants to see that firms can identify incidents quickly, escalate appropriately, and take decisive action to contain threats. This requires realtime monitoring, clear communication paths, and wellrehearsed incident management processes. It also requires firms to demonstrate that they have learned from past incidents and made improvements.
Governance is another critical component. Boards and senior management must be able to demonstrate understanding, accountability, and oversight of operational resilience. This includes regular reporting, scenario testing, and continuous improvement. The FCA expects resilience to be embedded into the culture of the organisation, not treated as a compliance exercise.
Thirdparty risk is also under increasing scrutiny. FS firms rely heavily on suppliers, particularly IT and cloud providers, and the FCA expects firms to ensure that these partners meet equivalent resilience standards. This includes understanding how suppliers manage cyber risk, how they respond to incidents, and how they support the firm’s own resilience obligations.
Cyber incidents are one of the most likely causes of operational disruption. They can halt important business services, breach impact tolerances, and expose firms to regulatory scrutiny. The FCA expects firms to have realtime visibility of threats, rapid response capabilities, and clear incident management processes. Firms that cannot demonstrate these capabilities risk enforcement action, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust.
Why SIEM + MDR is becoming nonnegotiable
To meet both the threat landscape and regulatory expectations, FS firms increasingly recognise that SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) combined with MDR (Managed Detection and Response) is no longer optional. It is becoming the baseline for modern cyber resilience.
SIEM provides the visibility that traditional tools lack. It collects and correlates logs from across the environment – endpoints, servers, cloud platforms, applications, identity systems, and network devices. Using analytics and threat intelligence, SIEM identifies suspicious behaviour such as failed logins, unusual access patterns, privilege escalation, and lateral movement. This early detection is essential for preventing small anomalies from becoming major incidents.
MDR provides the action. A 24/7 team of security analysts monitors alerts, investigates anomalies, validates threats, and takes containment steps. This ensures that threats are not only detected but actively managed. For FS firms, this is particularly important because internal teams often lack the time, resources, or specialist expertise to respond to incidents around the clock.
Together, SIEM + MDR deliver realtime threat detection, faster response, reduced dwell time, and independent oversight from specialist analysts. They also provide clear audit trails aligned to FCA expectations, giving firms confidence that threats are handled before they escalate. For regulated firms, this combination is essential. It provides the visibility, expertise, and assurance needed to meet regulatory expectations and maintain operational continuity.
Practical steps FS firms can take now
Strengthening cyber resilience does not require a complete overhaul. The most effective improvements are often the most practical.
A rapid cyber posture review is a strong starting point. Even a focused assessment can quickly identify gaps in monitoring, access control, patch management, backup and recovery, and incident response. This gives firms a clear, prioritised roadmap for improvement without overwhelming internal teams.
Operational resilience mapping should also be revisited. Many firms completed their initial mapping exercises when the FCA framework was introduced, but environments change. New systems are added. Staff roles evolve. Suppliers change. Mapping must reflect the current reality, not last year’s assumptions.
Implementing or enhancing SIEM + MDR is one of the most impactful steps a firm can take. If 24/7 monitoring is not already in place, now is the time to address that gap. If it is in place, firms should ensure that it covers cloud workloads, remote users, thirdparty integrations, and identity systems. Visibility must be comprehensive to be effective.
Identity and access controls remain one of the highestimpact areas for improvement. Multifactor authentication, privileged access management, conditional access policies, and regular access reviews significantly reduce the risk of account compromise. These controls are also increasingly expected by regulators and insurers.
Incident response plans should be tested, not just documented. Tabletop exercises help teams understand their roles, validate communication paths, and identify gaps. They also provide valuable evidence for the FCA that the firm is taking resilience seriously.
Finally, supplier and technology risk must be reviewed. FS firms rely heavily on partners – IT providers, cloud platforms, software vendors – and the FCA expects firms to ensure that these suppliers meet equivalent resilience standards. This includes understanding how suppliers manage cyber risk, how they respond to incidents, and how they support the firm’s own resilience obligations.
Resilient firms act before they’re forced to
Cyber resilience is not built in a crisis. It is built through proactive, consistent action. The firms that thrive are those that invest early, test regularly, and continuously improve. They recognise that resilience is not just about technology; it is about governance, culture, and operational discipline.
ERGOS supports FS firms across the UK with SIEM, MDR, compliancealigned security frameworks, and practical guidance that fits the realities of regulated environments. If you’re looking to strengthen your resilience, we’re ready to help you take the next step.