Executive Summary
A mid-sized U.S.-based financial institution, processing over $3 billion in digital transactions annually, faced increasing exposure to logic-based fraud attacks. Despite baseline security investments such as firewalls, SIEM, and endpoint controls, its transaction validation systems, authentication flows, and internal APIs had never undergone end-to-end adversarial testing.
DPR Solutions Inc., a cybersecurity-focused IT consulting firm headquartered in Virginia, executed a multi-phase penetration testing in a banking engagement. The result was the discovery and remediation of 18 high-impact vulnerabilities, including transaction injection, session hijacking, and lateral movement paths. These issues, left unresolved, could have enabled fraud campaigns with projected losses exceeding $700,000.
DPR Solutions not only exposed and simulated these exploit chains but guided the remediation sprint and validated that controls were hardened across all critical assets. The bank now utilizes DPR’s services quarterly and has transitioned its security strategy from a reactive to an adversary-aware approach, resulting in savings in time, cost, and regulatory risk.
Introduction
Digital transformation in financial services brings efficiency but also introduces complex attack surfaces. Today’s banks face threats far beyond static malware or simple phishing. Sophisticated adversaries now target transaction integrity, abuse API logic, and exploit weak session design to commit fraud that evades traditional detection methods.
Industry benchmarks support this shift:
- 47% of fraud incidents in banking involve API or logic-layer exploitation (FS-ISAC, 2024)
- Average fraud-related breach costs financial institutions $5.97M per incident (IBM, 2024)
- Only 38% of mid-tier banks conduct regular penetration testing aligned to MITRE ATT&CK
This client is a digital-first institution that recognizes the gap between its controls and the real-world tactics that attackers use. They required a penetration testing for banks program capable of emulating complex threats, validating system-level defenses, and preventing fraudulent transactions before they occurred.
Client Challenges
Despite having core security tools (firewalls, endpoint protection, MFA), the client lacked validation of their transactional integrity and fraud controls across the following critical areas:
Technical Exposure Points
| Area | Technology Stack | Observed Risks |
| Web Banking Platform | Angular / Node.js | Input manipulation; exposed JS secrets |
| API Gateway | NGINX / Express | Overly permissive CORS; lack of RBAC |
| Auth & Session Management | Azure AD B2C + JWT | Weak JWT signing; session fixation possible |
| Core Transaction Engine | Java-based microservices | No server-side transfer validation |
| Internal Infra (Windows AD) | On-prem Active Directory | Kerberoasting and lateral escalation |
The bank’s executive leadership team feared that a logic-layer fraud attempt could bypass traditional controls and result in both financial theft and reputational damage, which would only intensify regulatory scrutiny.
DPR Solutions’ Strategic Penetration Testing Approach
To simulate advanced adversarial behavior and fraud scenarios, DPR Solutions conducted a hybrid penetration test that transitioned from a black-box to a gray-box approach. The methodology aligned with OWASP Testing Guide, MITRE ATT&CK, and NIST 800-115, and included both technical assessment and real-time fraud emulation.
Phase 1: Threat Recon & Target Mapping
- Mapped 230 public-facing assets.
- Enumerated subdomains, expired DNS entries, and orphaned IPs.
- Identified outdated libraries with known CVEs (e.g., lodash, moment.js).
Phase 2: Application and API Abuse
- Injected unauthorized transfer payloads to bypass client-side limits.
- Exploited missing CORS restrictions to simulate session theft via CSRF.
- Used replayed JWT tokens to access higher-privilege endpoints.
Phase 3: Internal Pivoting & Credential Exploits
- Conducted a controlled phishing simulation of finance staff (27% click rate).
- Gained domain-level privileges via NTLM relay and Kerberoasting attacks.
- Uncovered Active Directory accounts with unconstrained delegation enabled.
Phase 4: Fraud Chain Emulation
- Simulated fund transfers redirected to mule accounts without triggering alerts.
- Validated business logic flaws with chained attack vectors.
- Modeled a full fraud exploit path from the external vector to the internal transaction tampering.
Phase 5: Remediation Guidance & DevSecOps Integration
- Provided code-level mitigation plans for dev teams.
- Helped build regression test scripts for CI/CD validation.
- Mapped each finding to business risk and compliance controls (GLBA, FFIEC).
Outcome and Measurable Impact
The client remediated 100% of critical and high-severity vulnerabilities within 30 days post-engagement. A follow-up retest showed no residual exploit chains and measurable improvement in fraud resilience.
| Security Metric | Pre-Test Baseline | Post-DPR Solutions | Impact Summary |
| Critical Vulnerabilities (CVSS ≥ 9.0) | 5 | 0 | 100% remediation in 30 days |
| Transaction Fraud Vectors Simulated | 3 | 0 | All exploit paths neutralized |
| External Attack Surface Assets | 230 | 189 | 18% reduction via decommissioning |
| Average Patch Time (Critical Findings) | 84 days | 19 days | 4.4× improvement in patch velocity |
| Projected Financial Exposure (modeling) | $700,000 | $0 | Fraud loss pre-empted |
| Compliance Readiness (FFIEC Mapping) | Partial | Full coverage | Passed annual audit without exceptions |
Table: Before vs. After Penetration Testing
The ROI of penetration testing in this case was exceptional. With a service engagement cost under $25,000 and an averted loss of over $ 700,000, the bank achieved an ROI of more than 2,700%.
What’s Next After DPR Solutions’ Engagement?
Following the success of this engagement, the client expanded its relationship with DPR Solutions to include:
- Quarterly Red Teaming: DPR Solutions conducted advanced adversarial simulations using emerging TTPs, expanding the scope to include fraud risk modeling across newly released mobile banking features.
- Zero Trust Hardening: Implemented network microsegmentation across transaction backends and enforced policy-based access controls aligned with the NIST 800-207 zero trust framework.
- DevSecOps Enablement: We delivered secure coding workshops for internal development teams and integrated DAST scanning automation within Jenkins pipelines to embed security into the CI/CD process.
- Regulatory Support: DPR prepared audit-ready materials for GLBA, PCI DSS, and FFIEC compliance, while aligning ongoing security metrics with the client’s board-level reporting cadence.
Final Recommendations from DPR Solutions Inc.
Penetration testing in banking is no longer optional; it’s a security baseline and a business enabler. By simulating real attacker behavior and uncovering logic-level flaws, organizations can prevent fraud before it materializes.
DPR Solutions Inc. stands at the intersection of cyber defense and business resilience. As a trusted name in penetration testing for financial services and a premier provider of penetration testing services in Virginia, we help institutions strengthen infrastructure, exceed compliance expectations, and measurably reduce risk exposure.
Need to Harden Your Bank Against Fraud? Let DPR Solutions Inc. simulate your next threat actor before they do. Book your penetration test consultation now.