Industries · Financial services → Capital markets

Security that keeps pace with markets that move in milliseconds.

Trading and brokerage systems can’t be taken down to test, and a flaw in authentication or market-data integrity has consequences measured in the tens of millions. We test them with that reality in mind.

The problem

What capital markets is up against.

01

Always-on, can’t pause

Trading systems can’t be taken offline to test, and a flaw on the execution path is measured in millions.

The problem

Always-on, can’t pause

You can’t schedule downtime on a market. That rules out the lazy version of testing and demands methods that prove security on live, latency-sensitive systems without pausing trading. We work inside that constraint: carefully, on the execution path first.

  • No maintenance window on a live market
  • Failure measured in millions, in milliseconds
  • Tested live, without pausing trading
Penetration testing →
02

Market-data integrity

The feeds and pipelines an attacker would corrupt to move a price.

The problem

Market-data integrity

You don’t have to steal to profit from a market. You can lie to it. Tampered market data or a corrupted feed can move a price and a position before anyone trusts their screens again. We test the integrity of the feeds and the pipelines that carry them, source to screen.

  • Feeds and pipelines that set prices
  • Integrity attacks, not just theft
  • Tested end to end, source to screen
Application & API security →
03

Vendor & feed exposure

Market-data vendors, brokers and clearing partners, each a path into latency-sensitive systems.

The problem

Vendor & feed exposure

Your trading stack is wired to vendors, brokers and clearing partners, and each connection is a door tested to their standard, not yours. When one of them has a bad day, it lands on your desk in milliseconds. We map those connections and the blast radius if one is breached.

  • Vendors, brokers, clearing partners
  • Doors tested to their standard, not yours
  • Blast radius when one is breached
Third-party risk →
04

Tool sprawl

Too many tools from too many vendors, each delivering unevenly. Spend up, clarity down.

The problem

Tool sprawl

Wander any security show floor: booths the size of apartment buildings, new analyst reports every quarter, and another three-letter acronym you supposedly can’t survive without. Most trading desks bought plenty of it, half-deployed, overlapping, and nobody quite sure what stops what. We start by testing what you’ve already paid for.

  • Too many tools, too many vendors
  • Delivery and outcomes vary widely
  • Capability you already own, switched off
Spend nothing →
How an attacker gets in

How an attacker gets in

Trading environments are sprawling and interconnected, so the ways in are many: a phished trader, a market-data feed, a client-facing FIX gateway, a prime-broker link, a stolen credential. Most still converge on the same handful of prizes: orders, market data, settlement, and the algos themselves.

EntryFootholdPivotEscalateObjectivePhishingtrader & opsStolen credsMFA fatigueRemote accessVPN · CitrixMarket-data vendorFIX feedFix gatewayclient-facingPrime-broker linkcounterpartyTrader desktopOMS / EMS clientWeb / fix DMZperimeterClient portalbrokerage appLateral movementhost to hostColo / cross-connectlow-latency netCloud / risk analyticsSaaS · IAMDomain adminActive DirectoryOMS / EMS adminorder managementOrder executionplace · cancel · spoofMarket datafeed integrityClearing / settlementmove positionsAlgo / trading logictamper strategythe route taken this runother possible routesloop back to go again

What you get: a ranked shortlist of the fixes that close the most routes to execution, market data, settlement and your algos first, proven against live systems without a minute of downtime.

Read the brokerage engagement →
Regulation by regulation

The rules you answer to, and how we test for each.

SEC and FINRA expect demonstrable controls and incident readiness; DORA expects threat-led testing. We deliver engagements built for live, high-stakes trading environments.

StandardWhat it expectsHow we test it
SEC
For SCI entities, penetration testing at least annually; Reg S-P governs customer data (Reg SCI).
Annual pen testing of trading and market-data systems, built for live environments.
FINRA
A risk-based cybersecurity program and tested resilience (incl. Rule 4370).
Testing and attack simulation aligned to FINRA expectations.
DORA
Threat-led penetration testing and resilience testing for significant entities (Art 24–27).
Intelligence-led red teaming for high-stakes trading environments.
MiFID II
Resilient, tested systems for algorithmic trading (RTS 6).
Security and resilience testing of latency-sensitive systems, without taking them down.
Compliance & risk alignment →
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