Bottom Line: Attacks on payment systems occur predominantly through process manipulation and social engineering rather than software exploits.
Digital payment processes are a preferred attack target for cybercriminals, who often rely not on technical exploits but on manipulated payment requests and process manipulation. CISOs must understand these vulnerabilities to respond effectively.
Payment systems rank among the critical IT infrastructure of modern enterprises. They are deeply integrated into operational workflows and thus regularly targeted by attacks. In contrast to conventional cyberattacks that aim at technical security gaps, attackers exploiting payment processes increasingly leverage organizational and human vulnerabilities.
The most common attack scenarios are manipulated payment requests, redirection of payment flows through process manipulation, and exploitation of established routines and trust structures. These attacks often occur as part of Business Email Compromise (BEC) or similar social engineering campaigns that specifically undermine payment approval processes.
For CISOs, systematic analysis of their own payment IT is necessary: Where are payment requests still manually approved? Which system interfaces are weakly authenticated? How are payment requests verified for authenticity? Only by identifying these critical points can targeted protective measures be implemented – from multi-factor authentication on approvals through technical validation of account details to enhanced anomaly detection in payment flows.
Source: itwelt.at · Published 30 June 2026
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