How a Leading Bank Strengthened Cyber Resilience with a Hybrid Approach to Penetration Testing

The Challenge: Closing the Gaps in Cybersecurity & Compliance

After the incident, the bank’s executive team recognized the need for a more comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. The bank needed to:

• Enhance regulatory compliance—meeting stringent requirements under FFIEC, PCI DSS, and GLBA
• Protect customer data—prevent unauthorized access to sensitive financial information
• Improve business continuity—ensure operations could withstand cyber threats without disruption

Traditional manual penetration testing was already part of their annual security assessment, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the evolving threat landscape. The bank needed a continuous, proactive security approach.

The Solution: A Hybrid Approach with Continuous & Guided Penetration Testing Solutions

The bank’s BCDR team was given a recommendation to implement a two-pronged penetration testing strategy that combined automated testing for continuous monitoring and manual testing for in-depth security analysis.

1. Continuous Penetration Testing for Automated Threat Detection & Security Validation

• Runs weekly vulnerability scans across the bank’s digital infrastructure
• Detects new security weaknesses as soon as they emerge
• Provides automated compliance reporting, simplifying FFIEC and PCI DSS audits

2. Guided Penetration Testing for Robust Threat Detection and Enhanced Compliance Posture

• Conducted quarterly guided simulation penetration tests (also known as manual PTaaS) on high-risk assets, including online banking platforms, mobile apps, and third-party vendor systems
• Identifies complex vulnerabilities like API weaknesses, session hijacking risks, and business logic flaws
• Ensures that security patches and remediations are properly implemented

By integrating both automated and manual penetration testing, the bank now has a proactive, layered security approach that continuously evolves to defend against emerging threats.

Results: A Stronger, More Resilient Financial Institution

Since adopting this hybrid penetration testing strategy, the bank has achieved:

• 100% compliance with FFIEC cybersecurity assessment guidelines and PCI DSS requirements
• Zero major security breaches since implementing automated testing
• Improved customer confidence with stronger data protection measures
• Reduced downtime risk—business continuity plans now account for cybersecurity threats

Additionally, the bank’s IT and security teams are now more proactive, identifying and addressing security gaps before they can be exploited.

Key Takeaways for Financial Institutions

Cyber threats continue to evolve, making continuous security testing a necessity for banks and credit unions. Automated penetration testing provides real-time vulnerability detection, while manual testing ensures deep security validation—together, they create a resilient, compliant, and customer-trustworthy financial institution.

Don’t wait for the next attack. Learn how Agility Recovery’s penetration testing solutions can strengthen your cybersecurity and business continuity strategy or contact us to speak with an Agility expert.