Cybersecurity for Finance Teams
Attackers do not break into the finance department, they get invited in. Finance holds the payment rails, the vendor master file and the authority to move money, which makes it the highest-value target in most organisations and the one least likely to be trained on anything beyond a generic awareness video. This programme is written for that team specifically: the fraud typologies aimed at them, the controls that actually interrupt those frauds, and the design flaws in approval workflows that attackers rely on.
Programme Agenda
Why Finance Is the Target
Mapping what the department controls that is worth stealing: payment initiation, vendor bank details, payroll records, tax data and the credentials that reach the banking portal. Where each one is exposed.
Payment Fraud Typologies
Invoice redirection, false supplier onboarding, duplicate invoicing, payroll diversion, and mandate fraud. Each shown with the paperwork an attacker produces to make it look routine.
Vendor Master Data as a Control Point
Most losses trace back to a change in a supplier record. Who can create and amend a vendor, what evidence is required, dual authorisation, and the periodic review that catches what slipped through.
Designing Approvals That Cannot Be Rushed
Thresholds, dual approval, and the exception path everyone uses when the managing director is travelling. Building a process that stays firm under time pressure rather than one that quietly bends.
Segregation of Duties in a Small Team
The honest version for departments of three people. Where segregation is achievable, where compensating controls have to substitute, and how to document the reasoning for an auditor.
Banking Portals, Tokens and Access Hygiene
Shared credentials, dormant user accounts, token custody, and what happens to access when a finance officer resigns. The access review that takes an hour a quarter.
Data Handling and PDPA Duties in Finance
Payroll files, bank details and identification documents sit under the Personal Data Protection Act. Retention limits, sharing with third parties, and the 72-hour notification duty if the department is breached.
Case Clinic: Your Own Near Misses
Participants bring incidents and close calls from their own operations. The group works each one against the control framework from the day and identifies the specific gap that allowed it.
Learning Outcomes:
Identify which finance assets and processes an attacker is actually targeting
Recognise the main payment fraud typologies from the documents they arrive with
Apply controls to vendor master data creation and amendment
Design an approval workflow that holds under urgency and absence
Apply workable segregation of duties, or defensible compensating controls, in a small team
Run a quarterly access review across banking portals and finance systems
Meet PDPA obligations for the personal data finance holds
Duration: 1 Day (8 Hours)
Training Hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Level: All levels
Training Mode: Physical, Online, or Hybrid
HRD Corp SBL-KHAS Claimable
Certificate of Completion included
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