Digital Security

Protect to strengthen the stability and boost the business

Digital security is one of Bankinter's top priorities, as demonstrated year after year by the increase in budget and staff dedicated to this area. The purpose is to ensure a high level of confidentiality, integrity and availability to customers, employees, shareholders and suppliers, in accordance with the objectives described in the following image.

Achieving these objectives translates into a clear return on investment. By preventing costly incidents and complying with regulations, the bank avoids sanctions and financial losses that could reach millions of euros, reinforcing its stability and sustainability. Therefore, the Digital Security team at Bankinter not only protects its customers and the business. It also drives business and ensures an environment of trust. Digital security is a true business driver that contributes to the Bank's mission of offering quality financial services.

These commitments are set out in the Digital Security Master Plan, which made important contributions to security projects and internal processes in its third year in force.

These include increased maturity in business continuity plans and protection against threats such as distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) and ransomware.

The use of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (a framework for protection against threats and risks) makes it possible to measure the level of maturity of compensatory controls or countermeasures and minimise risk to the bank. In 2024, a high level of maturity was reached and for 2025 a much broader, more ambitious and demanding global framework has been proposed.

In addition, BSI's certifications in Security Management (ISO 27001) and Business Continuity (ISO 22301) were renewed in 2024, providing external assurance in project implementation and process development.

Security reviews were also conducted on the Bank's suppliers, using a methodology based on the European Banking Authority (EBA) guidelines.

In turn, a team was appointed to address the application of the European DORA regulation, which ensured its early compliance and guaranteed that all Bankinter Group subsidiaries are covered in terms of digital resilience.

Raising awareness on matters related to cybersecurity

In the world of cybersecurity, compensatory measures for detection, prevention, protection and recovery have been deployed. At the same time, maturity in the management of identities, passwords, additional authentication methods, etc. was improved.

The area's activity included the development of awareness-raising plans for users, who are the weakest link in the security chain. The bank rolls out online training programmes for workers via the intranet and simulations are run to check how confidential information (passwords, identification data, etc.) can be unintentionally disclosed via e-mail, text messages (smishing), phone calls (vishing), etc. Some of these exercises were expanded in 2024 with the performance of baiting (USB) and hacking (social engineering with QR codes) exercises.

In addition, in 2024, role play exercises were carried out on senior management to analyse decision-making and evaluate the reaction of the management team in terms of cybersecurity using technologies such as artificial intelligence to expose the risks derived from its misuse, such as fraud, identity theft and reputational damage.

The awareness-raising work also extended to external staff, with direct initiatives for Bankinter customers and non-customers. In this sense, a specific web portal was created where you can take a course with an immersive experience, listen to podcasts, read news, books, manuals, etc.

Cyber Intelligence: anticipating problems

At the same time, Bankinter deployed a cyber intelligence service to obtain early and preventive information on threats such as stolen customer credentials, compromised credit card numbers, brand abuse, etc.

This service provides additional visibility into what is happening outside our borders, which, together with the internal information reported to management through performance and risk indicators, allows for the construction of a global picture that helps with the early and proactive management of threats and risks.

To unify all the information necessary for its correct management, the strategic project of the Modern SOC (Security Operation Centre) in 24x7 mode was completed.

These security operations centres are highly specialised and have expert professionals at different levels of support and analysis, which guarantees constant knowledge and an appropriate response to incidents worldwide and with a comprehensive service.